Road to Heaven
by crimson sun06
Summary: For generations Team 7 has produced some of the greatest shinobi of their age. Their legendary feats moulded not only Konoha but the entire shinobi world into what it is, for better or worse. They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions but its the road to heaven that goes through hell.
1. Prologue

**A/N:- Yes I know its not fair to start a new one when you guys have been patiently waiting for an update of my other stories. But it was an idea which planted itself and I needed to put it on. So here it is. Its an AU so forget everything you know about the series. Some events are the same while I have taken liberties with others. Rest assured following the story won't leave you confused. Its a team seven centric fic except they never became team seven when they graduated.**

**Fallen Angels: A Naruto fanfic**

**Rating: T/M**

**Characters: Naruto U. Team 7**

**Warnings: AU, mature themes**

**Summary: For generations Team 7 has produced some of the greatest shinobis of their age. Their feats of legend while earning them the love and admiration of their peers also brought with it the hatred of their enemies. It has been said after all, that the curses of the fallen can bring the very angels crashing to the earth.**

**Location: Degarashi Port, Land of Water**

**Time: 6:14 PM**

The two men dragged their helpless prisoner through the streets of the market. The crowd hastily made way for them, keen to avoid their attention. A few of them looked appalled, some looked outraged, some merely indifferent, but most of them were scared and were busy trying to make themselves scarce, lest they incur the wrath of the enforcers.

The men for their part looked supremely confident in their power and authority. Safe in the knowledge, that their aura of invincibility was maintained and sustained by their acts of suppressing these random acts of dissent.

Their victim was a lad who hadn't probably even seen eighteen summers yet. His crime had been his refusal to pay the mandatory protection money their establishment... for the lack of a better term charged for their, well... protection.

Some of them just didn't understand the service they provided. Some of the misguided ones like the one they were dragging with them right now, openly defied them. Hence, the need to make an example. The rebellion no matter how small had to be put out before it was fanned out of control after all.

A new establishment like their own couldn't afford to let these things pass. Even a year ago they were just one of the dozens of gangs trying to control this port town. Eight months ago the place had resembled a war-zone with the streets turning into battlefields. And just when it seemed the gangs would implode within themselves... came Kenshin Homura. That was the name he claimed anyway. He approached their boss for a job as an enforcer.

What happened next would be written in blood in the annals of the town's dark history. The man single-handedly tore through the ranks of the rival gangs. He had cleared the streets within a month and firmly established the dominion of their boss. How he had done it, remained as big a mystery as who he was. Rumours were that he was a ninja. But they couldn't bring themselves to care either way.

Now they controlled the very economy of the port town. But their dominion was still new. And like all new things it was fragile. The last few months of relative peace had caused the people to grow forgetful and hence, careless.

Nothing like a refresher.

The boy groaned piteously as he gazed up to his captors, his one eye swollen shut due to the beating he had received.

"You brought it on yourself kid," one of his captors told him, "you just had to play the hero, didn't you? Couldn't have let things be."

"You'll be put out of your misery soon enough," his other captor said with barely suppressed glee in his voice, "after we've had a bit of fun, of course."

The men led him to a nondescript building at the edge of the town. It was a simple two-storey structure. A year ago it was owned by a cloth merchant. During the gang wars it served as the headquarters of one of their fiercest rivals. Now it served as the place where they took out the trash so to speak.

Dragging the boy across the floor they hung him by his arms, his feet dangling a few inches above the ground, his head collapsing forward, barely showing any signs of life. The room was soon filled with half-a dozen men, the oldest being around forty. The boy had somehow regained enough consciousness to study the scene in front of him, as he helplessly raised his head.

"So this is the dissenter." The oldest of them spoke studying his captive. "He's just a kid!"

The quip wasn't funny at all, but the men had an active interest in keeping their boss in high spirits chuckled heartily.

"Every once in a while, one idiot thinks he can change the world," the boss continued obviously pleased and encouraged by the reaction of his men to his 'witty' observation, "one idiot who believes he can make a difference," he said putting emphasis on the word 'idiot'."and then you have to kill him just to convince him otherwise."

He shook his head in mock regret as he approached the prisoner. He was expecting some reaction from the boy. Whether begging for leniency or defiance. But his men probably didn't leave him in the condition to do so. A pity. He sort of enjoyed the type.

He gazed into the face of his prisoner and couldn't help but be surprised. As bloody and bruised as it was he seemed more aware than he had any right to be. Not only that his lone visible eye didn't show any signs of resignation or terror he had come to expect. In fact he seemed almost bored... and seemed to regard him with the same interest one would regard a bug. He wasn't sure how he came up with that analogy, but it seemed to fit.

It unnerved him a great deal.

"Kill him," he ordered his men, turning away from the boy. He couldn't get away fast enough from him. He was no coward. But something about the boy turned the very blood in his veins to ice.

"Saito... ." The boy said in a calm and clear voice. It was quiet. Almost a whisper. But in the silence of the room, it sounded like an exploding tag.

The boss turned around, surprised by the clarity in the boy's voice. He wasn't looking at him. It seemed he was looking through him. Or to be more accurate beyond him. He turned around with the intent to crack another joke about how the beating his men gave the boy had probably addled his brains. But he froze when he saw the look on the face of his right hand man, Kenshin Homura.

Kenshin was the bravest man he knew. He had seen him walk into an enemy stronghold alone and weaponless, burn the place down, killing everyone in it in the process, all without sustaining a single scratch... and yet right now his face was as pale as a ghost's.

What could possibly scare the man whose exploits had earned him the moniker of 'The Terror of the Hidden Sea'?... and yet here he was frozen like a mouse in front of a viper.

It was with considerable dread that the boss realized that the source of his fear was their captive. Then he murmured what would be his last coherent words.

"Konoha." With a scream Kenshin drew his tanto and in a well executed shunshin which left his comrades baffled plunged the blade into the prisoner's ribs, stopping an inch from penetrating his heart. He just wanted to confirm his suspicions for the sake of posterity.

"Were you sent to capture me?" He asked.

"To capture you? No," the boy wheezed, his lungs flooding with blood as he pushed himself forward driving the rest of the blade through as he brought his lips to his ear. " to kill you."

The boss stood motionless. Frozen in pure terror. His peripheral vision told him that his men weren't faring any better. A couple of them in fact had lost consciousness and then a smell he associated with urine hit his senses. The warmth around his groin told him it was him. At the moment however, he had bigger concerns. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. One moment he was with his men, joking and laughing about to execute a boy, the next moment the boy had seemingly broken free from his restraints, no signs of injury casually wiping a blade after having removed the head of his most powerful enforcer with a single stroke. Lifting the head from the floor, ignoring the blood which had begun to flood the floor, he proceeded to place the head in a scroll. If he hadn't been so terrified he would have wondered how the hell did the head disappear?

The boy then placed the scroll in the pockets of his trousers and exited the building without so much as a backward glance.

"Mission accomplished." The boy spoke into his com link. "Target eliminated."

**XxX**

**Location: Konoha-Kusa border**

**Time:- 4 PM**

Takeshi cursed under his breath as he dodged another wave of kunai. To say that the enemy had caught them by surprise would have been a gross understatement. He was a part of a four-member patrol unit. It was meant to be a routine patrol. They had no reason to suspect anything. So when one of them was literally torn apart by a wire user, they were caught with their pants down.

It was only due to the quick-thinking and experience of their captain that that was the only casualty they had suffered so far. After a couple of smoke bombs, a half a dozen hastily applied Kawarimis and another half-an hour on the run (it felt like six) the only thing they had succeeded in was get deeper into enemy territory.

Being a trap expert his skills had kept them alive so far. Their enemy had cut off their escape the way they came. Now they were stuck taking the longer way, littered with more ambushes and traps.

He was brought out of his musings by the sight of an explosive tag wrapped around a kunai embedded in a tree five yards in front of them.

"Fire in the hole!" He hollered to warn his comrades. It was too late. He managed to change direction in time. The running momentum of his captain however carried him closer to the tag.

The explosion nearly tore apart his eardrums. After he got over his disorientation, he could hear his female comrade shouting.

"...help me...ut."

He recovered enough to focus his vision to see the disheveled form of Sakura Haruno. The medic on their team. Her short pink hair resembled a crow's nest, her face sported numerous cuts, a couple of kunai stuck out of her armour but her eyes remained sharp and focused.

"The captain is hurt, we need to move him fast."

Takeshi nodded before taking him by the shoulder, the other taken by the girl. Together they began to build-up a steady pace.

"Its no good." She exclaimed. "He is crashing."

"Do you think we should leave him here?" Takeshi felt like an ass for coming up with that suggestion. But the fact remained if they kept going the way they were they wouldn't survive this.

"No I am going to treat him." She said with a no-nonsense tone.

"What?" He couldn't help himself. "Are you crazy?"

"See those outcropping of rocks?" She ignored him, pointing to a collection of rocks, about two hundred yards to their right. "It will give us the high ground and enough time to save his life."

"Yes I see them. But we will be running out in the open to get there, not to mention once we are there we will be sitting ducks."

"That may be, but as we are right now, we are playing right into their hands." She countered. "If we can buy ourselves enough time maybe the reinforcements will get here before its too late."

Takeshi didn't have to think for long. He was sick of running anyway. If they had to make a last stand, guess there were worse places to do it in.

"Alright we will do it your way."

Soon they were camped behind the rocks. Takeshi had even found the time to set-up some rudimentary traps. He kept watch as the medic in the team worked on their leader.

"How is he?" Takeshi enquired. For the first time he saw the condition the captain was in. His armour was literally blown off. His right arm and leg looked like they had gone through a meat-grinder. These were the wounds he could see. Thankfully the man was unconscious.

He watched as Haruno worked. Using a kunai she severed the jacket off his body.

"He is in tachycardia." She said. "His heart is beating harder and faster than it should." She elaborated probably catching on his confusion.

"What does that mean?"

"He should be going into shock due to blood loss, his heart should be slowing down, not speeding up." Sakura removed the emergency dressing she had managed on the run while unsealing a syringe from the medical scroll. "It means the shrapnel was probably laden with a toxin to make sure something like this happened."

"But you can extract the poison can't you?"

Sakura removed the cap from the syringe with her mouth, revealing a 3-inch needle. She then proceeded to plunge it into his thigh.

"Won't do any good." She said. "The damage has been done."

Takeshi's heart sank. After all that trouble it looked as if they were going to fail. He had already lost one comrade. He didn't want to lose another. But that was the life of a shinobi. So he was surprised to see their medic still working hard. She had unsealed an IV line from another scroll. She tied a ribbon around her upper arm tying a knot using her teeth. She then proceeded to heat the needle with a lighter with a bluish flame.

"What are you doing?" Takeshi asked mystified by her actions.

"Right now a blood transfusion is his best chance." Sakura explained. "It might be his only chance."

Now Takeshi would never claim to be a medic-nin. But he did have the basic battlefield first-aid and emergency care down pat. And if he wasn't mistaken a blood transfusion between incompatible blood groups was a recipe for disaster. When he gave voice to his misgivings, Sakura merely shrugged.

"My blood group is O-negative, which means I can donate blood to anyone. Its not ideal but it will have to do." She paused, before taking a deep breath as if to steady herself. "He has lost a lot of blood and if he isn't treated he will lose more. More blood than I can spare."

"So what is the point of all this?" Takeshi interrupted.

Sakura looked annoyed at being interrupted but continued nevertheless. "I will channel healing chakra through my blood and if everything goes well, he should be fine."

"If it doesn't?"

"He'll die and most probably so will I," she said nonchalantly. "Its an extremely delicate procedure and would require all of my concentration. I need you to defend me. Can you do that?"

"Have you ever done this before?"

"No," she shook her head, "Only Tsunade-sama has," she took a deep breath as she plunged the other end of the IV into the captain's arm. "But she demonstrated the procedure and I know the theory so it should be fine."

"Will this work?"

Sakura turned to him, holding his gaze. He thought a saw a moment of indecision and uncertainty in them, but it was gone as soon as it had come.

"Guess we'll find out won't we?." She plunged the other end of the line into her own arm to start the procedure.

Takeshi wasn't sure if he should be amazed or exasperated. He was probably seeing a legend in the making or an idiot who was biting off more than she can chew. But seeing the resolute look in her eye, he couldn't help but admire her. He gave her a grim nod which she returned as she began the procedure. She wanted time, he'll make sure she gets it.

Not a moment too soon as a rain of kunai started to pepper their location. Arming himself with a kunai he prepared himself for the coming onslaught. His comrades were counting on him and he couldn't afford to fail. Peering over their hiding place he could see thirty shinobi scaling the rocks to get to them.

The two in the lead were barely fifteen yards from them, when one of Takeshi's traps triggered itself. The explosion blew them off the cliff while slowing the rest, as they took cover.

The good news was he wouldn't have to face wave after wave of enemy hordes.

The bad news was that now they will switch to long range attacks.

Takeshi wasn't a chakra powerhouse by any means. He really didn't specialize in defensive ninjutsu either. His talents lay more towards the more subtle arts of ambush, tactics and traps. He wasn't suited to a battle of attrition. But his comrades needed him and he couldn't let them down. If Haruno Sakura could risk her life to execute a procedure which if done wrong would end her life, then the least he could do was buy her enough time to pull it off.

He moved himself away from where Sakura was treating the captain. He must draw the fire away from them. They needed a target. He will provide them with one.

Palming five kunai between his fingers he scoured the area. He couldn't see anyone at the moment. At the same time he knew he couldn't afford to let them dictate terms of this engagement. Wrapping a couple of exploding tags around two of the kunai he threw them where he saw them set themselves up.

The screams of alarm and pain told him that he had at least succeeded partially. Leaving his cover for a brief second to allow them a visual he ran through the hand-seals for the bunshin and had them running in different directions.

The E-ranked technique had almost been rendered obsolete, he however hoped that the confusion and chaos of the battle should help him pull off his bluff. A kunai whizzed an inch past his ear, he could barely suppress his smirk as he felt his plan succeeding.

He could feel them closing the distance. They would be on him any second now. Whipping out another kunai he cut a wire to trigger a pre-arranged trap. He hit the ground placing his hands over his head as a mass of kunai flew over his head. He felt them avoid the wave, just for them to trigger another trap. This one involved explosive tags. Takeshi flipped backwards to get away from the blast radius.

He held his stance as he waited to see the results of his efforts through the veil of dust and smoke. It wasn't his best work. His traps tended to be more elaborate than that. But it was all he could do with the constraints of time and resources. He cursed under his breath when he saw an earth wall surrounding the enemy. One of them was holding his arm trying to staunch a bleeding and throwing him a murderous look. By the looks of it his injury wasn't serious enough to put him out of the fight.

Feeling a presence behind him, he ducked a tanto, which would have taken off his head, now only managed a few strands of his hair. He kicked the swordsman away and tried to get some distance between them, except he was now moving closer to the two shinobi who he had just tried to blow away.

He felt a kick to his head which made him see stars. He tried to reach for another kunai, but the enemy was having none of it. A wire wrapped around his hand and pulled back, flipping him on his back.

Spikes of earth rose where he landed, one pierced his arm and another sprouting from his thigh, effectively pinning him to the ground. He nearly blacked out from the pain, when he finally came to his senses, he saw three figures looking down on him. Two of them were masked, while the third was a woman with dark eyes and hair with a rather peculiar shade of blue. She was dressed in a green outfit with a red turtle-neck and brown finger-less gloves. Judging by the deference with which the masked shinobi were treating her, she was the leader. Their headbands had a musical note on them. His throat felt raw. Which meant he probably screamed his vocal cords off.

Oto.

They were supposed to have been disbanded.

"Well looks like we've captured ourselves a tree-hugger." The woman spoke, a mocking edge to her voice. "A nice hole you rats found for yourself. Now only if we could get the rest. You wouldn't happen to know where the rest of your team is would you?"

Takeshi glared hatefully at the man, panting heavily, before spitting in her face.

The woman casually wiped the gob of spit from her face. "Well I guess Plan B it is!." She then proceeded to plunge a kunai in his knee-cap, getting another scream out of him.

"You...are...wasting yo...your...time." Takeshi gasped between his words. "I... I'm not telling where... where they are."

The woman studied Takeshi with a look of mock puzzlement.

"You think I am torturing you to get you to tell me where your comrades are?" She said amusement lacing her voice. "Your stupidity continues to amaze me. You Konoha nins so big on comradeship... the will of fire. So ready to die for your people. Did it ever occur to you that as you would die for your comrades... your comrades will die for you too."

Realization struck Takeshi with the force of a biju. He was being used to get the rest out. He saw her smile as she comprehended the horror of her captive.

"So where were we?" She twisted the kunai in his knee as his screams filled the air.

"Stop!" A female voice shouted. The woman torturing Takeshi, turned to the source of the voice.

She studied the girl with a seemingly academic interest.

"Thanks for joining the party miss. " The woman addressed Sakura. "I'm afraid we started without you, but it seems you got our invitation. Well better late than never. Though I can't help but notice the guest list isn't quite complete."

"He is dead." Sakura said shortly seemingly not keen on playing games. A part of Takeshi was really relieved that Sakura had come. He didn't know how much more of that he could take. Another part felt ashamed of that part. Now instead of just him dying, Sakura would too, and so will the captain. If he wasn't dead already.

"You people are sooooo... predictable." She whined impatiently. "It'd have been funny if it wasn't so... _pathetic_."

At an unseen signal a couple of Oto-nin approached Sakura from behind with the intent to capture her, but they had underestimated the medic. She ducked under them, then proceeded to execute a leg-sweep catching them off-balance. In the blink of an eye she had the two acting as meat-shields for her, with her kunai at their throats.

"How is that for unpredictable?" Sakura said, a mocking edge to her tone now.

Takeshi couldn't help being amazed at this turn-around. They just might get out of this alive.

The woman after a moment of stunned silence, started laughing hard.

"I must admit," she conceded once she had her amusement under control. "You are more interesting than I expected."

"So this is how its going to work," Sakura said ignoring the woman. "You're going to let my comrade go, in return for one of yours. We're going to hold on to one for insurance, till we are safely out of here."

The woman studied Sakura like a poker player who knew she had the best hand in the house and was just playing along her opponent's bluff to raise the stakes. Takeshi knew that look. He had seen it one time too many during games' night in the chunin lounge. That's how he knew they were screwed.

With a wave of her hand she ordered the nin holding the doton jutsu pinning him to the ground to release it. The woman grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet, completely disregarding his pain, the smile never leaving her face. She pushed him forward towards Sakura. He barely registered the look of satisfaction on Sakura's face as she saw her gamble being pulled off. Then slowly it turned to one of horror.

Takeshi didn't get it. What had happened? He looked behind to see what was causing his comrade so much distress. The enemy hadn't moved. The group of Oto-nin were holding their place. The woman was still holding him up, her arms supporting his back, smirk in place.

Except it wasn't an arm anymore. It was... a pink crystal shard, going through his back and now protruding out of his chest.

His vision darkened as he coughed out blood. He didn't even register the pain as he faded into oblivion.

**Location: Iwagakure, Chunin Exams Stage-II, Day-3**

**Venue:- The Valley of Lost Souls**

**Time: 2 AM.**

Katashi rubbed his arms to generate some warmth for his body. He hated to be the last one on watch. But unfortunately, he had drawn the short straw. He suspected the game had been he knew exactly who to blame. Too bad he couldn't prove it.

He sighed helplessly as he waited for dawn to break. It had been a long 4 days. Actually, that wasn't right, it had been a long month. It all began when their jounin sensei decided to nominate them for the chunin exams barely 6 months after they had graduated the academy.

He remembered the day their sensei had announced the news. Kai ,their third teammate had lost his balance painting the second floor window of a client's house during one of those dreaded D-ranked missions.

The idiot had landed on his ass and broken his tail-bone. The doctor put him out of action for 6 weeks, followed by a month of rehabilitation, effectively putting him out of contention for participation in the exams and by extension the entire team.

Just when they had thought to have said goodbye to their chances of having been the youngest team to compete in the Chunin Exams in almost a decade, their sensei had found them a replacement in the form of an older genin who went by the name of Naruto Uzumaki.

He had joined their team a couple of weeks before the start of the exams. He looked about sixteen, which put him quite a few years ahead of them.

If there was one word he would use to describe him it would be...LOUD!

Everything about him from his golden locks to mischievous blue eyes to his clothes with a high ratio of orange screamed at him. Even when he talked he managed to be loud... even though he wasn't shouting. If that wasn't enough he had whisker birth-marks on his cheeks.

He didn't know what he had been expecting when he was told they would be joined by a veteran genin. But it sure wasn't this. To make matters weirder he was the goofiest guy he had ever come across. Even more so than Konohamaru Sarutobi, the class clown in his batch.

That probably explained why he hadn't been promoted till now. It was almost an unwritten rule that if you didn't get promoted within the first two years after graduating you were unlikely to go far in your career as a shinobi. Uzumaki Naruto seemed to be one of those people who had hit that wall and now found it insurmountable. In short he was a wash-out. He had shared his concerns with the female member of their team, Miyuki. She had been more optimistic about this addition than he had been.

"You seem to be overlooking the fact that he has survived so far," she told him when he brought it up during a sparring session. "If nothing else, his experience should count for something."

After that he stopped sharing his concerns with his ex-classmate and now teammate. Experience or not, he would take Kai over him any day. Or someone, hell anyone whose manner didn't scream incompetence.

But it was the best they could do in such short notice. Over the next week and a half, they trained together and ran D-ranked missions to get some semblance of familiarity with each other. That's when he discovered another strange thing about Uzumaki. The older genin wasn't only competent in the D-ranked missions, he excelled in them and actually seemed to enjoy them too.

No-one enjoyed D-ranked missions. Even Miyuki had been mystified by his enthusiasm and when she had voiced her curiosity, he had stared at her for a full thirty seconds, his face losing its goofy nature to be replaced by a thoughtful one.

His answer had been left them even more curious about the enigmatic blonde.

"Its good, honest work. Something of a rarity in our world. What's not to like?" He had said, before reverting back to his goofy persona.

So when the time finally came for their departure, which in itself raised more questions as both his and Miyuki's families had taken time to see them off and wish them luck, but not a single well-wisher had made time for Uzumaki. Maybe because he had none, and for the first time he found himself feeling sorry for his temporary teammate a sentiment apparently shared by his teammate.

He sighed warily. To top it all, as much as it rankled him, the blonde genin had been the reason they were even in the second round. If there ever had been any doubt about his usefulness, they had been dispelled in the very first stage of the exams. If they had followed Katashi's directions they would have jumped off a cliff possibly to their deaths and definitely to disqualification.

Their arrival had been relatively mundane. Though he had to admit the history books didn't do justice to the sheer size and majesty of the place. Iwa was a valley surrounded by mountains which made Mount Hokage look like an eroded plateau. There was little greenery and most of the houses and buildings were made of red stone aiming for practicality rather than aesthetics. The visiting teams were settled in their community centre, which had temporarily be turned into a living space for over seventy teams of genin from 5 major and fifteen minor villages. Despite being the greatest ninja village Konoha had thought it was prudent to send only one team. It wasn't all that surprising considering the history between Konoha and Iwa.

The living conditions weren't ideal but considering the fact they were to spend only one night there, none of them minded them particularly.

The next day they had been directed by one of the officiating chunin to proceed to the village square. Two hundred and sixteen genin lined up in groups of three representing the pride of their respective villages. The experience was a moment of great humility for them.

From there they had been led up on Mount Kamizuru, named after the clan of their First Tsuchikage. Once they reached the top of the cliff they were instructed to stand on an elevated platform over six hundred feet in length and made to face the cliff, in a single file, a distance of two and a half feet between them. He remembered breaking into cold sweat when he had actually dared to peer over the edge of the precipice. At least he had his teammates with him.

"Welcome to Stage-I of the 25th Chunin Exams." Their proctor, a big man wearing a red jacket and black trousers, standard attire for Iwa jounin addressed the gathering after joining them on the platform. "My name is Hibiki Kyouzo and I will be your proctor for this portion of the exam." He paused letting his words sink in. "A chunin is a leader. They must be courageous, resourceful, pragmatic and most importantly...decisive."

He paced along the row of nervous genin.

"A chunin must know exactly when to proceed and even more importantly know when to cut their losses and retreat. This test has been designed to test these very qualities. Pass and you proceed to the next round." He stared into the eyes of the genin, Katashi gulped audibly. "Failure will result in instant... _elimination_." The way he said the last word had sent a shiver down his spine

"At the ends of the platform you are standing on you can see two jounin." Katashi spied Miyuki risking a glance to confirm the proctor's word. She wasn't the only one, as several heads were now swiveling in either direction to sate their very human curiosity. "They are the ones holding this platform using an earth jutsu." He paused again for dramatic effect. "All you need to do to complete this section of the exam is... jump off the platform."

Katashi never thought he would describe silence as deafening, but that's exactly how he would describe the one that followed this declaration. Slowly as the genin got over their shock pandemonium broke out. The accumulated genin threw out shouts of indignation and outrage as they protested the rules.

"SILENCE!" The proctor roared over the din, causing everyone to go quiet immediately. "Those are the rules, and you will abide by them."

Katashi froze in his place. He couldn't believe this. He was being told to jump to his death? Next to him Miyuki's face had gone white. How could they do this? Was this Iwa's way to cut out the competition. Suddenly the honour of being nominated to participate in the Chunin exams didn't seem like an honour. Maybe it was Konoha's way to weed out the weak from their ranks. Suddenly even Uzumki's presence in their ranks was beginning to make sense. After all he was a career genin without a family or friends. His death won't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

"What if we decide not to jump?" A genin from Kusa enquired.

The proctor's brutal face broke into a smile. A smile which bore no goodwill for their recipient.

"You will be given ten seconds to make the decision after which the jutsu will be released and the platform will collapse." His grin turned even more sadistic as he said the next words. "Your time starts now!"

10...9...

A group of genin to his right immediately jumped off the cliff.

8...7...

The first group was soon copied and several others decided to follow their example.

6...5...

Maybe he should be jumping too. He had heard things about the first stage during the Konoha Chunin Exams. He recalled hearing how the proctor had threatened the end of the careers of the participating genin if they failed to answer a question. The participating genin were given the option of foregoing the question altogether to save their careers. Eventually the ones who had stayed to participate had been passed.

4...3...

Maybe that's what this was. A test of their courage in the face of the unknown. Moreover they won't kill people in the first stage of the exam. That came later. His resolve strengthening he prepared himself to launch himself off the cliff.

2...1..

Just as he was about to, a hand grabbed his shoulder and with surprising strength pulled him back away from the cliff, backward off the platform. As soon as his feet left the platform it collapsed taking the rest of the candidates with it.

"That..." He turned to face the sunny visage of Uzumaki Naruto his hand still firm on his shoulder, "wasn't very smart of you."

Katashi turned to see approximately twenty teams had gotten off the platform. Miyuki was on her knees breathing heavily.

"Congratulations," They were greeted by the voice of their proctor as he surveyed the remaining candidates. "on passing Stage-I. Instructions for the next stage will be given shortly."

He had been a little out of it when it had been explained why they had been passed, trying to get his heartbeat in control. He was pretty sure the gist had been that the stupid people jumped into the cliff, the indecisive ones stayed on the platform till it collapsed while the ones who passed jumped off the platform, but backwards. There had been a lot of explanation regarding how the decisions chunins made on the field were life and death and consequences of a wrong decision can be disastrous.

"You actually figured all that out?"Miyuki asked Naruto having followed the words of the proctor.

"Not really," the older genin had said rubbing the back of his head, a sheepish grin playing on his lips, "the scary proctor told us to jump off the platform, I just thought it'd be pretty stupid to actually jump off the cliff."

At this Katashi tried hard to fight down the blush threatening to colour his cheeks.

"Thanks for the save sempai." Miyuki said to Naruto, who just laughed and rubbed her head earning a blush from the girl. Even Katashi managed to mutter a thanks once he got over his mortification.

"Do you think they're dead?" Katashi enquired regarding the fates of the genin who had disappeared down the cliff.

"I doubt it." Naruto replied. "They must have some protective mechanism for making sure they lived. They really wouldn't want to start a war... I think."

"What do you mean sempai?" Miyuki said puzzled.

"We're shinobi." Naruto had offered as a way of explanation.

His relief at having survived the first round of the exams overcame any uneasiness he might have felt at that statement. They were led from the mountain to a valley on the other side. The valley was completely barren and uninhabited. Stretching for leagues.

"What you are seeing in front of you, is the Valley of Lost Souls." Their proctor explained. "Before the time of the great villages, this used to be a thriving market for the Land of Iron. Unfortunately it met its untimely end during the one of the most brutal battles of the First Shinobi war. Consequently as you can see what was once a symbol of the pinnacle of our civilization is nothing more than a barren wasteland now." His words had been surprisingly regretful. "And today it will serve as your battlefield."

So, that's what had brought them here. All the teams had been given a red banner. Their objective was to find the five check-points in the valley. They were supposed to tie each banner on a designated spot and in return would gain another one, which held clues to the next check-point and so on. Sounded simple enough. Except with everything that came with being a shinobi, this too came with a huge catch.

The final check-point will reveal itself only on the noon of the fifth day. After which they will have a window of only ten minutes to place their banners. The banners which remained at the end of the window will determine who qualifies for the final round.

With rules like that, bloodshed was guaranteed. Katashi had been of the opinion that they race through the course, get to the final checkpoint and set-up an ambush for the rest.

Naruto had immediately over-ruled that.

"First-off you aren't the only one who has come up with that brilliant plan. I am sure others have thought of it too." He told him when Katashi had protested being overruled. "Secondly the check-point isn't going anywhere. Rushing in will only end-up tiring us out."

So, they had gone with the slow and steady approach. They had just gotten their third banner. So it could be said that they were on schedule.

He was brought out of his musings when he felt a sharp jab to his ribs.

"You are a lousy lookout you know that?" Came the irritated voice of his female teammate.

"I knew it was you." Katashi lied, trying to get his heart-rate to slow and trying to keep his voice his voice from quivering, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Yeah, I just keep expecting for something to go wrong." Miyuki removed the kunai from his neck and walked around to take a seat opposite to him. Despite the chilly night they had refrained from making a bonfire. The reason being it would have just acted as a beacon to all the other candidates announcing their position. Being warm and comfortable just didn't seem like a good enough reason for getting their throats slit.

"We have made it this far haven't we?" Katashi assured her. "We will be fine."

Miyuki smiled at his effort to make her feel better, but it just didn't reach her eyes.

"So what do you think of sempai?" She asked, causing warning bells to go off in Katashi's head. He wouldn't claim to be an expert but he could tell what a question like that meant. Miyuki had never been one of those girls who took an active interest in boys. She was hard-working and skilled enough to have been one of the best graduates in the academy that year. She was in fact unrivaled in accuracy and a very good support and long-range specialist. The hint of admiration which entered her tone despite her obvious attempt to hide it, was a dead giveaway. Something that irritated Katashi for some reason.

But before he could answer, his ears were filled with a strange buzzing sound.

"Do you hear that?" Miyuki went on guard palming her kunai.

"Oh my god!" With dawning horror Katashi realized the danger they were in. It was bees, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, surrounding them. "Wake up Naruto. We have to get out of here." He ordered Miyuki while running through hand-seals to apply a genjutsu.

Miyuki went to the lump on the ground that was Naruto a few yards away wrapped inside a sleeping bag with the intention of waking him up, when a kunai wrapped with an explosive tag landed a yard in front of her right next to him.

Reflexes ingrained into her due to years of training moved her body away from the blast.

"Sempai!" She screamed helplessly for her fallen comrade. She tried to get to her feet, when killing intent the likes of which she had never felt in her young life flooded the area. She couldn't move, paralyzed by the fear enveloping the very blood in her veins like poison. Her body broke into a cold sweat as the sound of buzzing came nearer.

But no! A defiance brought out by desperation pushed itself out of her. She will not die here. She moved her body just in time to avoid the first wave of bees. Her senses began to work overtime as she flattened herself on the ground. The killing intent was still permeating the area but it wasn't paralyzing her the way it had a few seconds ago.

Their enemy had yet to show themselves so they were entirely on the defensive. A hand found its way to hers and pulled her to her feet. It was Katashi with a sleeping bag over his head to protect himself from the killer bees.

"Where is Naruto?" He questioned.

Miyuki shook her head and Katashi swore under his breath.

"I placed a genjutsu on the bees." He said trying to explain the situation. "Its probably the only thing that is keeping them from attacking us."

"So what do we do?"

"We need fire. But unfortunately I don't know any fire jutsus."

"But we can create fire." Miyuki muttered. "I have an idea."

She opened her bag and studied the inventory. She had a flint, 8 explosive tags, sixteen kunai, three sets of shuriken, a spool of ninja wire 30 feet in length and other knick-knacks. Text-book shinobi survival kit. But there was only one thing that she needed right now. Reaching for the explosive tags, she took a kunai and went to work.

"Are you crazy?" Katashi exclaimed on seeing what she was trying to do. "You are going to blow us up."

"Sshhh." Miyuki shushed him impatiently. "I know what I'm doing."

At least she hoped so. Katashi was right to be wary. Explosive tags were volatile in the most controlled of situations. This was anything but. Her brother had shown her how to deactivate an explosive tag. Most people thought that explosive tags were nothing but compressed chakra exploding. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

An explosive tag was nothing but a storage seal, with different layers. Each layer acting like a storage scroll would, containing a component of the explosive. During activation all a ninja has to do is channel some chakra into the tag to unlock the seals allowing the components to mix to form the deadly mixture which then acted as an explosive.

So all she had to do was break one of the seals and drag the component out of it without breaking the rest. In this case the highly flammable accelerant.

Theoretically, it was simple. Practically... not so much.

One mistake and the accelerant would flow into the seal instead of outside of it and would result in exactly what Katashi feared.

But they had no choice.

"How long will your genjutsu last?" Miyuki asked her teammate while working on her third tag.

"About that." Katashi ventured tentatively. "I have good news and bad news."

"Hit me."

"The good news is my genjutsu seems to be working just fine."

"The bad news?"

"It isn't supposed to."

Miyuki froze as she heard the grim tone of his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that those bees. They are not wild." Katashi's face was ashen. "They are summons."

The uncertain terror in Miyuki's gut solidified to take a more concrete shape. Summoning was a high-level skill used by high-level ninjas. Whoever was targeting them were anything but genin-level.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself she steeled herself.

"One problem at a time," she said, "we need to get rid of those bees first."

She had deactivated three of her tags to get enough accelerant for her purpose. It had taken only thirty seconds to make a make-shift flamethrower using the rest of her supplies. Using the flint to spark a flame she used the accelerant to fuel it and aimed the flame at the summons.

For a second she wondered what she looked like with flames seemingly coming out of her hands. It seemed to be working too. The bees seemed to scatter in front of the dreaded fire. Just when it looked like they would be out of danger, another wave of killing intent washed over them. This one was even stronger than the last one. It actually brought them to their knees.

She saw visions of her own death. She saw herself lying on the floor bleeding to death, while Katashi lay disemboweled next to her, the stench of decay and rot permeating the air.

"Pathetic." A male voice reached her ears dripping with disdain. "Gotta admit they did well to survive the bees, but this seems to be the end of line."

"Stop playing with them Hiro." Another voice broke in. "Just put them out of their misery so we can move on."

"Fine, but you are no fun." The other said in a resigned tone.

As she heard those words she gained some clarity. She could see the two figures standing casually in front of them, without a care. Why shouldn't they? They had already killed one of them, and the other two were too helpless to do anything. She could see Katashi throwing up next to her.

"Don't worry." Their tormentor said in a soothing voice. "This will be over soon."

She saw the trajectory of the kunai thrown their way. There were two of them. One for each. It would impale her forehead. She saw it coming. Any resistance or defiance would be futile. She won't survive this.

She felt a tug of chakra on her body. The kind she felt when she used the kawarimi. But she wasn't using the jutsu. Though she didn't fight it and let her body go with the flow. Soon she felt arms around her shoulders as they dragged her away. A part of her wondered if the enemy decided to capture her. Maybe cut open her body and take whatever secrets they can glean off it. Though she didn't know what secrets they could possibly glean out of a genin level shinobi with no kekkei genkai.

"Is she going to be okay?" A voice she didn't think she would ever hear again said.

"Don't know she seems to be in shock. Might need to give her some time." Came the same voice again. Was he talking to himself?

"Miyuki," he said as if trying to calm a scared animal. "I need a sign from you to tell me if you can hear me. Squeeze my hand."

A hand moved into hers. After some coaxing she managed to return the grip.

"She is responsive." The voice was now filled with relief. "I think it is now safe to do this."

Suddenly warmth flowed back into her body. The terror leaving her like the darkness which retreats to the shadows when the sun rises. Her shallow breaths turned deeper.

"That's right breathe." The voice encouraged. "You're gonna be okay."

Slowly but surely her vision came back to focus on the sunny visage of Uzumaki Naruto.

"I thought you were dead." She gasped

"Well all evidence to the contrary,"he smiled at her reassuringly.

Her relief at surviving and joy at seeing him alive finally overcame her and her hands found their way around the blonde's neck and she was sobbing on his shoulders. The older boy seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before returning the embrace. All this time she hadn't known how much bigger Naruto was than her. In his arms she felt like a little kid. He was warm and smelt of pine and earth. There was something both honest and comforting about it.

"There there its going to be alright." He gently stroked her hair trying to calm her down, but she only held on tighter.

She didn't know how long she had been in his arms, but after a while she finally recovered enough to extricate her arms from around his neck.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked her looking concerned. She just nodded in response, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, that's when she doubled back when something caught her eye. A few yards away, she saw two more Narutos arguing in hushed tones over the unconscious form of Katashi.

"There are three of you?" She deadpanned.

"Yeah." The 'Naruto' with her laughed sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "None of us is the boss if that's what you are wondering."

"The boss?"

"We are shadow clones."

She would have persisted with her questions except now she had bigger concerns.

"Is he going to be okay?" She made her way to the unconscious boy.

"He had an allergic reaction to the bee stings. But don't worry he has been given a dose of epinephrine and some follow-up chakra-therapy, so he should be fine once he sleeps it off."

Something still seemed to be bothering her that she couldn't put her finger on. It must be her recent ordeal which must have put her in this state.

"If you guys are clones." She ventured tentatively. "Where's the real one?"

All three clones froze for a second and then shrugged at the same time. Something she found both creepy and fascinating. She had never seen clones act so independently from their user.

"Well it seems like the boss is done." One of the clones tending to Katashi said.

"Done with what?" Miyuki asked even more mystified.

"You'll see," the clone with her replied before helping her to her feet, "c'mon let's go."

Confused but managing to hold her tongue Miyuki simply followed the group of blondes. Katashi had finally regained consciousness but had to be by the clones supported to be able to walk. He didn't look in good shape, but at least he was alive.

She saw him crouched on the ground checking over a body. She recognized the place as where they had setup camp. In the light of the breaking dawn it looked almost like a different place.

"Hey boss!" The clone escorting Miyuki greeted him. "We got them."

The original 'Naruto'. Or at least she assumed it was the original looked up and his face broke into a relieved smile when he saw them.

"You're okay." He grinned. "Thanks guys, I owe you one."

"Any time boss." The three clones chorused before dismissing themselves in identical bursts of smoke.

"Did you do all this?" Katashi said slightly slurring his words.

"Yeah I did." Naruto replied matter of factly.

"You took out all three of them?" Miyuki enquired amazement colouring her tone. She saw the three bodies lying in various degrees of distress. One of them was lying a few yards away who from the looks of it had his neck broken. Another had his chest caved in, by what could have been a meat grinder, his eyes open in shock and terror. The third one could have been mistaken for being asleep if not for the thin line of red running across his neck.

Then she studied Naruto. Other than a few scrapes he didn't even look like he had been in a fight. When she thought about how outclassed she and Katashi were last night, the feat seemed even more impressive. Forget about fighting, they couldn't even stay on their feet. For the first time since she chose this life she was beginning to doubt her resolve to be a shinobi.

"Stop blaming yourself," Naruto addressed her seemingly reading her mind, "there's no way you were ready for this kind of opponent."

"But they're genin too." Miyuki couldn't keep the hurt of her voice. She knew she had been outclassed, but to be told so by the object of her admiration was another thing entirely.

"Are you sure?" He asked her. "Take a look again."

More than a little perplexed, Miyuki obeyed and studied the bodies again. At first she wondered what he was talking about. But slowly it began dawning to her.

"They are too old." Katashi said joining the conversation, before realizing what he had said. He gave Naruto an apologetic look who merely waved it off.

Miyuki winced at his bluntness but agreed. They were old. Older than even Naruto. These guys looked to be in their twenties.

"Correct, but that's not what I was talking about." Naruto said approvingly before approaching a body and ripping off the sleeve of one of the dead, revealing a tattoo of the symbol of the Hidden Stone Village. "Congratulations my young friends, last night you had the honour of being targeted by the Iwa ANBU."

"What?" Miyuki exclaimed after getting over the shock of that statement. "Why would ANBU attack us?"

"Whenever a village hosts exams, it makes sure to send in a ringer team to get rid of the competition." Naruto explained. "After all the host village needs to look better than everyone else. This is their way of doing it."

"But isn't that illegal or something?" Katashi said not being able to help himself.

At this Naruto burst into peals of laughter. He must have continued for a minute or so before finally managing to control himself, heaving lungful of air.

"You almost managed to succeed where the Iwa ANBU failed, kid." Naruto said, causing Katashi's face to go red with mortification. "If you're gonna worry about legalities, you're in the wrong line of work my friend."

"But what if we expose what has been done here?" Miyuki ventured.

"You'll be dead before you can say the words 'cheater'." Naruto used air-quotes to emphasize the words. "Surviving is victory here. Take what you can."

"So should we continue the exams?" Katashi said, his voice full of uncertainty.

"No, the exams are over as far as we are concerned."

Miyuki wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed. It wasn't just because of what she had gone through, but suddenly her entire world view seemed to have changed. She found herself questioning things she had taken for granted and now she wasn't sure if she wanted to walk this road anymore.

Her eyes met Naruto's and she could see no pity only understanding.

"Why are you still a genin?" Katashi asked with an accusatory stare at the older genin. "If you can take out a team of ANBU single-handedly, forget Chunin, you should have been a jounin."

"Strength and power don't determine whether you are promoted or not."

"Then what does?"

A smile broke into Naruto's face quite unlike his usual ones. This one actually reached his eyes if only to reveal the melancholy in them.

"I'm sure you'll tell me when you're promoted."

**So, that was the introduction of the three main characters. Kakashi will be up in the next chapter. This was just a sneak peak into the different characters .Little being a misnomer cause that was easily twice the length of a usual chapter. In case you are wondering the assassin at the beginning was Sasuke. The story will be character driven so those who like those probably won't be disappointed. So, don't forget to leave a review. Until next time. As it is an AU I'd like to ask you to disregard anything you know about the canon... plot-wise at least. I haven't changed the world much just the situations.**


	2. You are Hired

**A/N: Welcome to another chapter of Road to Heaven. There were some concerns regarding the plot of the story after The Prologue, something I have hoped to remedy here. Kakashi makes an appearance and so does Tsunade. So, plenty to look forward to. I just hope I did justice to their characters. **

**Chapter 1: You have been Hired**

**Location: ANBU Headquarters**

The figure landed exactly twenty yards from the front gate in keeping with the standard protocol. If he had been even so much as an inch closer, they would have been using his roasted remains as visual aid to teach new cadets what became of hotshots who tried to push the envelope a little too far. Then again he wasn't much for caution. As he walked in he knew, even though his body didn't register any change, that his chakra had been locked. A result of the elaborate fuinjutsu seals that lined the entire compound.

Understandable. It was after the ANBU HQ after all. Konoha's temple for all things related to its intelligence. It was the foundation on which Konoha stood strong, mighty and invincible. Everything from the priorities of missions to details of black-ops and strategic assets were processed here. A brain-child of the Nidaime Hokage, it was now entering its 77th year.

Anyone wanting to cripple Konoha would have to look no further for a target. Removing or even damaging the foundation would lead to its collapse. Sounded really simple right?

It wasn't.

The security around this place would make the one around The Hokage Tower look like Konoha market's on Trader's Day, though in entirely different ways. While the Hokage Tower was a fortress, nigh impregnable, ANBU HQ was more akin to a black-hole. You will get in, but you sure as hell won't be getting out. Not before the guys in the T&amp;I Department were done with you anyway. After which your dead remains will be going to the morgue for incineration of course. The locking of chakra was just the preliminary measure.

It was something he discovered on his own. He had discovered at least a dozen more, he was sure there were hundreds. Sometimes in his free time he tried to frame scenarios where he was the enemy trying to infiltrate the place. None of them ended particularly well for him.

He walked to the first check-point, where he rolled up his sleeves to reveal his ANBU tattoo on his upper left forearm. The leaf symbol on his arm was a simple enough design and could be replicated by anyone with half-a-brain, except it really wasn't just a tattoo. It was his identity card. Each one was unique in its own way and trying to replicate one would not only be futile but incredibly stupid. The man manning the post scanned it once before waving him in. He passed through half a dozen more of these check-points. The entire process took fifteen minutes.

The place was similar to the Konoha mission desk in some ways. The same basic plan. But the difference was like night and day. An apt analogy. While the Konoha mission desk catered mainly to civilian clients, this was where the real action was. Matters related to Konoha's security only. Mission difficulty started from A-ranks and only got higher. Almost everything was classified. Rumor had it that the office of the Hokage itself wasn't in on half of what went on in here. The cool ambience coupled with the grey walls gave the place an oppressive aura contrary to the more friendly mission desk.

This place was Konoha's dark side given shape.

He handed his mission scroll to the man manning the desk, who barely registered its contents, heads of three B-ranked missing-nins. Two from Kusa, and one from Kumo. It had taken him the better part of a month to track and kill them.

The man made some entries into a register. This info would be circulated and used to update the bingo books. It was a cumbersome process but it needed to be done. After collecting his paycheck he proceeded to the lockers. The locker room was attached to the showers, something he really needed.

Most lockers had the personalized touch of their owners. Some made shrines of their loved-ones, others used theirs for keeping secrets from their loved ones. In here you could learn a lot about the men and women behind the masks if you just kept your eyes open. Some even kept photos of celebrities they admired.

His, however was more bare-bones than the others. It wasn't personalized in any way, housing only the bare essentials. A change of civilian clothes and his spare uniform were all it contained at the moment. He removed his mask and was about to reach for the clothes when he felt a familiar presence behind.

"You're losing your touch Kakashi." He observed dryly as he slammed his locker shut and turned around to see the man leaning on the lockers a few yards away from him.

The silver-haired cyclopes casually turned a page of his book as he spoke.

"Or maybe you just got better," he said, "though I have to ask, were you just fishing for compliments?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe he walked into that one. He could never get the best of Kakashi in a verbal duel. The man was craftier than a fox and more slippery than a serpent.

"Why are you here?" He settled for asking. While Kakashi hadn't officially been a part of ANBU for years, he was still engaged with them as a consultant, giving him enough reasons to be here. A fact, which never failed to irk him.

"You wound my heart Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, still leafing through his book, "and here I was thinking you would have missed your old-sensei."

Sasuke had to admit, grudgingly even to himself, the man was a master at pissing people off. A talent which he suspected served the man rather well in the battlefield. He bet his opponents were too pissed and annoyed at him to be thinking clearly while facing him. The reason why Kakashi was still here and his opponents were not. His own irritation was so great that he barely registered that the man had used his real name a fact which went strictly against protocol.

"One of these days I am going to slit your throat in your sleep." He threatened.

"I'd be worried if you knew where I slept," Kakashi remarked, "as for why I am here? I am here to offer you a job."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"I already have a job."

"I'm offering you a better one." Kakashi shut his book and tossed him a scroll, which he caught.

Despite himself Sasuke opened the scroll, burning with curiosity. A quick look through it and he shut the scroll to toss it right back at his former sensei.

"Not interested." He said curtly.

"Why not?"

"I work alone. Teams aren't my thing." Part of the reason he took this job was the liberty it allowed him, and it would be a cold day in hell before he gave that up.

"Hmm… anything else?" Kakashi asked him, concern lacing his voice, which could easily be mistaken as genuine, but Sasuke knew better. However he had been given an opening and he would exploit the shit out of it.

"Gee, I don't know. It couldn't be because of the fact that you're demoting me to chunin, or the fact that you'd be leading it. Couldn't possibly be either of those could it?" He tried to lace as much sarcasm as he possibly could.

Kakashi chuckled as if enjoying the antics of a misbehaving puppy.

"It's cute how you seem to be under the delusion that you have a choice." Kakashi said.

"You seemed to have overlooked the fact that you're not my superior Kakashi." Sasuke smirked, "I answer to the ANBU Director, I doubt he would be keen to let me go."

Kakashi said nothing for a while and seemed to sigh with defeat, and Sasuke's smirk got wider, having finally got one over Kakashi. He turned around to walk away and only his reflexes stopped the projectile from hitting his face. He was puzzled. Kakashi wasn't petty enough to throw stuff out of tantrums. He studied the projectile closely and realized it was another scroll.

His stomach dropped. It had the official seal of the ANBU Director which could only mean one thing.

"Is it…"

"Your relieving letter?" Kakashi chirped cheerfully, "Yes, it is. The ANBU thanks you for your services."

Sasuke couldn't believe this was happening. He had nightmares which started like this. Maybe this was one too. Any moment now he would wake up and forget about all this.

"You're not dreaming Sasuke-kun." Kakashi said, his words barely being registered through the haze of Sasuke's shock. "Training ground 7, Friday, 9 AM sharp. See you then."

Kakashi walked away from Sasuke giving the boy time to process his fate.

"One down." He said to himself, "three to go."

**Location:- Konoha General Hospital.**

"So, I told her if it bothered her so much she should just avoid her you know." The elderly woman said, "I mean if she spent a fraction of the time bothering me telling her how she exactly felt about her, she wouldn't be in this mess now would she? You know what I mean?"

"As a matter of fact I do, Risu-san." Sakura said smiling indulgently at the woman, while checking her blood pressure. Her current patient was a lady well into her sixties. She wasn't exactly a patient. She was just here for her weekly health check-up. For some reason she always requested Sakura.

Konoha had a program where shinobi medics were required to volunteer in a civilian hospital for a preset number of hours. The idea was to establish a camaraderie not only between the shinobi medics and their civilian counterparts but also the general populace. Most of the medics she knew treated their hours with the enthusiasm of five-year olds faced with the possibility of eating their greens without the added advantage of knowing that it was good for them.

For Sakura however the mundane everyday problems of the civilian populace made for a welcome change after the life and death situations she dealt with in the field.

"You know Tsukune will be here next month, so maybe you could show him around you know,"the woman continued the lop-sided conversation, "he really doesn't know anyone here."

Sakura sighed patiently. Tsukune was Risu's grandson. She was the woman's favorite topic of conversation along with her neighbors and her youngest daughter-in-law. He was a businessman who owned several casinos in the town of Tanzaku-gai as Risu often bragged. Ever since striking a friendship with Sakura she had gotten taken with the idea of setting her up with him and always seemed to be working towards that goal 'not so subtly'.

"I might not be in Konoha then," Sakura said gently trying to sway the woman from her current line of thinking, "you know how the system goes."

"Yes, yes I know." The woman said dismissively, waving her hand, while Sakura helped the woman to her feet and into her coat, she had taken off at the start of her check-up, "I don't know how a nice, pretty girl like you can throw in your lot with those barbarians."

Sakura laughed the woman's concerns away, not taking offence to the woman's words or correcting her perception about said 'demons' and how she happened to be one of them.

"Everything looks good Risu-san." Sakura told her patient, "I will have Saburo send over your full report by tomorrow."

The woman went her way, extolling the virtues of garlic which she credited to her good health, while Sakura went to the office of the Senior Medical Officer to take her next case.

"Well, that's it for the day Sakura-san," he told her, "It's been a rather slow day. By the way there is someone here waiting for you, says you are late for an appointment."

Sakura grimaced. She had hoped that she would receive a pass today. Apparently, no such luck for her. She wasn't looking forward to this. She could always skip, but that would be just avoiding the problem for now in return for escalating it later.

Her choice was made.

"I guess I will be leaving then," she told him and getting a nod of sympathy in return at her predicament, even though he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Take your time," he called after her. "Take the rest of the day off, if you have to."

"Thanks."

Sakura discarded her hospital gown and changed into her uniform before exiting the hospital premises to rendezvous with her escort and was surprised to see her best friend.

"Well well look who's finally here," Ino said, her tone laced with amusement, seeing her friend in disarray, "hope you have a handy excuse, 'cause he wasn't happy."

The old Sakura would have gone on the offensive or made up some excuse, these days however, avoiding conflict was becoming something of a habit.

"He sent you to drag me to him?" Sakura said a little skeptically.

"Oh no dear, I volunteered." Ino said unashamedly, "Now let's get you there shall we?"

"You seem to garner a lot of pleasure from my misery." Sakura complained as she walked next to her friend trying to prepare herself for what was to come next.

"You brought it on yourself." Ino countered, "You missed your last two appointments forehead."

Sakura barely registered her hated nickname, as her mind wandered to the reasons she was summoned. If she had, she would have caught the concern in her friend's voice. But right now she was just walking resolutely forward, wanting it to be over.

"Look I know it has been hard, but he's just trying to help," Ino told her, "so cut him some slack will you?"

"I'll try," Sakura said trying not to commit, "you know you don't need to escort me all the way there."

"Hey I'm just following orders? But I will make it up to you." Ino said unashamedly before changing tracks, "How about a girl's night out? I'll see if Hinata and Tenten are free and we can all go out."

Sakura bit her lip, not quite sure if she wanted to and to make matters worse she really didn't know how to refuse her friend either.

"Come on Thursdays are Lady's Night at the Blue-bar." Ino kept trying to convince her.

"Fine," she finally conceded, earning a whoop of celebration from Ino. Sakura couldn't help smiling. Ino's enthusiasm was infectious.

Her good mood however plummeted a few notches, when she realized that they were finally where they needed to be.

The building they were at wasn't large or imposing by any means. It was a single-floor, white structure with a cobbled pathway leading to the front door surrounded by a plush green lawn, giving it a rather pleasant aura. It was the most intimidating place in Konoha as far as Sakura was concerned. It didn't help that it stood right next to the building that housed the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Department.

"Well this is it," Ino squeezed her arm once offering comfort, "good luck."

Taking a deep breath to steel herself Sakura walked towards the building like a convict walking to their execution. The receptionist guided her to his office, whose mahogany doors were shut at the moment. Without pausing she rattled the gold plated knocker announcing her arrival.

"Enter." Came the command from inside.

On entering the first thing that greeted her was a pleasant smell, one she couldn't quite place. It was distinctively floral, but unlike any she had ever encountered. The rest of the room looked familiar. Painted light yellow, with a medium-sized desk and a few chairs. Sheaves of files and paper occupied the lone table in a state of controlled mess. In addition there was a couch placed near the right side wall of the room. The man was the last thing that entered Sakura's line of vision. He seemed to be working on a plant. Wearing gloves, the kind gardeners wore, and diligently snapping twigs off the plant with a pair of shears.

"Take a seat Sakura-chan," The man said without bothering to turn around, "I'll be with you in a second."

Sakura patiently waited for the man to finish his work. She didn't have to wait long fortunately. Snapping his gloves off with a pleased grin, and removing his goggles he smiled at her and waved his arm towards the plant.

"So what do you think?" He asked her with the air of an artist revealing his masterpiece to the world.

Sakura blinked in confusion for a couple of times before realizing he was asking for her opinion about the plant. Recovering, she studied it for a few seconds before feeling confident enough to give an opinion.

"It definitely looks healthy enough," Sakura ventured, "but I must admit I've never seen flowers like that. What is it?"

"I haven't named it yet," he said, pride evident in his voice, "it has a very pleasant fragrance doesn't it?"

Sakura was impressed despite herself. Breeding a new species was a time-consuming work requiring a lot of patience and dedication.

"It's beautiful." She murmured.

"Yes it is," The man agreed, "but unfortunately we must now turn our attention to less pleasant subjects."

Sakura grimaced, waiting to be given a dressing down. Inoichi Yamanaka, her counselor also happened to be the father of her best friend. He had seen her grow up and he had been a part of a lot of her pleasant memories. That didn't make any of this easier though. He had taken a personal interest in her case. Something which would have been frowned upon because of his personal history with her, but he had made it happen.

She still wasn't sure if she should be grateful for his consideration or insulted at his coddling.

"Why did you miss your last two sessions?" He asked her, taking his seat on the opposite side of the table facing her.

"I've been swamped at the hospital," came her automatic reply.

Inoichi smiled at her and not with disapproval or condescension.

"So you've kept yourself busy?" he said, "that's good thing. You've been productive despite your ordeals when it would've been so much easier to retreat within yourself."

"Yeah well if I'm busy I'm not dwelling." Sakura shrugged. She didn't want approval for this. She didn't deserve it.

Inoichi paused, evidently waiting for her to elaborate, but she kept her silent.

"You moved out of your house a couple of years ago," he said after a while, "what made you take that decision?"

That wasn't a hard question to answer. "I'd been a chunin for several months by then, my hours were inconvenient to say the least, it just felt like the right time."

"Has that affected your relationship with your parents?"

"Mother took it hard at the beginning, but she was supportive."

"And your father?"

"… No, it didn't change anything."

"What about your relationships outside your family?"

"I have drifted away from most of my Academy friends except Ino, though we are still cordial with each other when we meet up."

The series of questions and answers continued for a while. Sakura had begun to relax when Inoichi finally closed on a topic which was a potential minefield.

"You were in a relationship I believe."

Sakura paused as she pondered over what she would say next. She had indeed been in a serious relationship. She had dated a civilian for almost a year after becoming a chunin. He had been the son of one of her mother's friends. She had met him at a party, and one thing had led to another. He was handsome, charming and sweet and unlike most civilian guys wasn't intimidated by her job and status as a kunoichi. So when he had asked her to be his girlfriend, she had accepted. The first few months had been great. He was supportive and seemed to take pride in the fact that he was dating a kunoichi. But inevitably her job started to take a toll on their relationship. Her newly acquired rank and status as a medic kept her busy in the field for almost three-quarters of a month. It was getting harder and harder for them to take time out for each other.

But they had been determined to make it work and tried hard to keep at it. Her last field mission had served as the final nail in the coffin however.

"It wasn't working out," she tried to be nonchalant about it, but talking about it was still like getting stabbed through her heart, "we couldn't make time for each other."

"You broke up after you returned from your last mission, and you haven't been in the field for almost three months now," Inoichi said, "so, would you want to talk about the real reason?"

Sakura remained silent this time. Resolutely so.

"You need to talk about what happened to you sometime Sakura," Inoichi sighed, not put-off by the girl's defiance, "keeping these things bottled up is unhealthy."

"I just don't feel ready." Sakura muttered, breaking eye-contact with the man.

Inoichi remained silent for a while, before tearing a paper from his pad and scribbling something on it and handing it to her. Sakura realized it was an address. She looked up at him questioningly.

"This is the last session you will have with me Sakura," Inoichi said, "I'm clearing you for active duty."

Sakura was shocked. This was the last thing she expected. Technically a shinobi could be cleared three months after having survived a 'traumatic' mission, but she hadn't expected it. Getting back on the field wasn't something she had been dreading but it wasn't something she felt she was ready for either.

"Just like that?" She asked thoroughly puzzled.

"You have your issues Sakura," He elaborated, "but if our sessions have told me something its that I can't be the one to help you. Only you can do that."

"Are you angry with me?"

"Just the opposite. I know exactly what you are going through," he said gesturing towards the piece of paper he had just handed her, "when you have the time go to that address any Friday, 5PM."

"I don't have to go if I don't want to?"

"I wish you would," Inoichi admitted, "but no, its completely voluntary."

Sakura stared at the paper for a while before pocketing it.

Sakura left Inoichi feeling rather weird. She hadn't been expecting that. Feeling a little dazed she made her way to her apartment. She was barely halfway there, when a messenger chunin intercepted her, handing her a scroll. The scroll carried summons from the Hokage herself. This day just got a lot more eventful than she thought it would be when she woke up this morning.

Thanking the messenger she changed her course to the Hokage tower.

The receptionist at the front-desk took one look at her and waved her in, leaving her mystified as there were several others who were seated in the waiting room to meet the Hokage. Two of the men she recognized as prominent merchants who had dealings with her family and one looked like an official from the Daimyo's court.

Suddenly a cold ball of dread took shape in her abdomen. Why had she been summoned? She was a mere chunin. Someone way down the totem-pole to be even considered being granted an audience. Let alone being a priority over actual important people. She had seen the Hokage only twice. Both times it was during guest lectures that she gave to aspiring medic-nins in the program. One was a theoretical lecture on the effect of various toxins on the cell membranes of various tissues. The other was a practical class where she demonstrated an extremely risky procedure involving the use of healing chakra through one's own blood. Something she had tried in her last ill-fated mission.

The Anbu stationed at the door opened it to allow her in. She muttered a thanks as she walked in wondering what exactly she was walking into.

The first thing that came to mind when she entered the Hokage's office was that it had one hell of a view. The right window opened out to give an excellent view of the Hokage Mountain, while the left gave a panoramic view of the entire village. The room itself was simple enough, though rather tastefully furnished. Then her eyes fell on the lone occupant of the room.

Tsunade Senju was a beautiful woman in her fifties who didn't look a day over twenty-five. But that was just the physical aspect. She was also one of the most feared ninjas of the era, the greatest medic-nin bar none with a pedigree matched only by the now nearly extinct Uchiha. In her relatively short reign as the Hokage she had proved herself to be a shrewd and effective administrator.

Sakura stood there awkwardly staring at the great woman, who seemed to be engrossed in the paperwork in front of her, not even registering the additional presence in the room. Feeling she should do something, Sakura bowed from her waist.

"Chunin Haruno Sakura reporting Hokage-sama."

The woman's eyes peered over the folder she had been reading to meet Sakura's. Sakura resisted the urge to gulp, and fought her shaking knees. It might have only been three seconds before she spoke, but to Sakura it felt closer to three hours.

"Take a seat Haruno-san."

Sakura obeyed trying to keep her movements smooth and graceful, something she failed at as she almost knocked over a pile of files off the table. Her reflexes saved her from a greater embarrassment. Mumbling a quick apology to her leader, who ignored it altogether, she finally settled herself.

"I was just going through your file," She said, indicating the folder she had been reading, "it makes for rather interesting reading material I must say. There is a lot to like here."

Sakura remained silent as the Hokage continued to talk.

"Excellent grades in the academy, graduated with honors as the top kunoichi at age twelve. Disciplined, focused and driven, with a keen intellect and imagination. Works well with others and shows potential as a leader," Tsunade continued, "very impressive indeed."

Praise from the Hokage should have been a matter of joy and pride for her, but she had a feeling this meeting wasn't a pat in the back for doing a good job.

"And it gets better, participated in your first chunin exams six months after graduating on the recommendation of your jounin-sensei and made it to the final round, eventually earning a field promotion a few months later after which you joined the medical program, where again you distinguished yourself as the brightest candidate, completing the four year course in two and a half. I can go on and on. All your superiors have written you glowing commendations and have nothing but praise for you."

Sakura could sense a 'but' coming.

"So.." Well close enough, "Why are you wasting your time?"

Sakura had walked in expecting to be reprimanded. She wasn't sure for what but she was expecting it. But for her to be on the receiving end of one because of her achievements wasn't something she knew how to respond to.

"I…. I'm afraid I don't understand Hokage-sama," she stuttered.

"I read your file, up to and including your last field mission." She said then she held up another file, she recognized it as one of those written by Inoichi containing the psychological evaluation of the shinobi returning from field duty, "There is only one thing I would like to say to you, get over your pity party kid."

Sakura's jaw almost dropped to the floor, but Tsunade was on a roll now.

"You're not the first to lose their team on the field and you won't be the last, hell this might not be the last time 'you' lose a team. This is the world we live in, and I'm not going to coddle you and hold your hand to say everything will be alright. You're a kunoichi for kami's sake, and I won't have you playing nursemaid to a bunch of civilian grandmothers." She paused to take a breath, "Cause if that's what you are going to do, I swear I will kick you off the force myself. So I'll ask you, is that what you want?"

A bubble of rage expanded within Sakura. For the first time in a long time, she could feel her blood pounding again with adrenaline. She wanted to rant and rave at the woman, though the saner and more rational part of her head told her that the actions she was contemplating could be treated as insubordination at best and treason at worst.

Clenching her fist in her palms she managed to calm down and answered in a relatively steady voice.

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Good," Tsunade clapped her hands once, "in that case, you are being reassigned. You'll meet your new jounin leader three days from now at the Training Ground 7. I don't care what you need to do to get your shit back together, get drunk, laid or whatever it is that you kids do these days to clean your systems, I want you mission ready. Any questions?"

The rather blue language of the Hokage aside she did have questions. She had a lot of questions as a matter of fact. But she also had the feeling they wouldn't be appreciated at the moment.

"No Hokage-sama." She settled for saying with as much defiance she could pack in her voice. Just for a fraction of a second she could see a hint of approval, in the Hokage's gaze, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"In that case you're dismissed."

"So, there I did your job for you." Tsunade said to the seemingly empty room once the chunin had left.

From the shadows emerged a tall, masked, gray-haired man with his head band covering his right-eye, casually leafing through a book in his hands. She really wished he had the courtesy to not read it in her presence at the very least, but it was one quirk she had tried to overlook considering what she was putting him through, not to mention Kakashi was the best shinobi in the service and had earned that much.

"The girl has fire and I can see why you'd want her," the jounin admitted pocketing the book, "Though I must admit that was kinda harsh even for you."

"She'll get over it." Tsunade waved off his concerns nonchalantly, "Don't you have somewhere to be right now?"

"Hmmm… I guess I do." The man said, "If you'll excuse me."

"And Kakashi." She called out to the back of the exiting jounin as she went back to her paperwork, "Don't be late."

**Location: Konoha Mission Centre**

Naruto patiently waited his turn in the queue to submit his mission report and more importantly collect his paycheck. Even though, the correct term should have been wages if he was being honest. The mission was nothing more than household chore undertaken for the civilian populace and in some cases the shinobi ones too. A shinobi of his age should have found the work degrading and genin his age were generally looked down upon by their more 'successful' compatriots.

But he didn't mind. Work was work and money was money. After all pride never paid bills nor did it put food on the table. He had no family and few acquaintances so in his opinion he did just fine. He didn't mind the work either. It was honest work and gave him a chance to be productive. His work had gained him some popularity with the clients too. Popularity though probably was not the right word. But he was definitely sought after. On a good day he could complete three missions.

So he ignored the borderline condescending looks he received from the rest of the shinobi in line. Most of them were directed his way by the Jounin who were escorting their wards after a day of missions. The new genin usually kept to themselves still soaking in the novelty of finally being given the right to be called shinobi. There older ones stood there sulking about the D-ranked missions. But most of them were just too happy to be part of something bigger. Still untouched by the cruelty of their world.

When his turn finally came, he was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar and friendly face at the mission desk.

"Hey Naruto," The scarred but smiling face of Iruka greeted him, "long time no see."

"I'll say." Naruto returned the grin, "You got fired from the academy or something sensei? I knew they would wear you down eventually."

"As if!" Iruka snorted, "After having dealt with you for so long, I have gained the resilience and patience of a mountain. You know what they say…. What doesn't kill you!"

Iruka and Naruto went back some way. During his Academy days, Iruka had been his teacher and some might even say a mentor. One of the few people who took an active interest in his well-being. Kami knew he wasn't an easy brat to care for. He had been a devil during his younger days. His pranks kept most of the chunin forces on their toes, Iruka included. It was funny how they became friends. It started out as intense dislike.

Iruka had hated his disruptive behavior during the classes, and Naruto resented the man for being the only one to catch him and for sabotaging his pranks. It soon became a contest. A test of wills. Neither willing to break before the other. Before long the intense dislike turned to grudging respect which turned to actual respect…and the rest as they say is history.

"Yeah yeah," Naruto conceded, "But seriously. Why are you here?"

"Survival training." Came the reply.

"Ah! Ran?"

"Nope. Suzume."

"That explains it."

Ever since its inception the Academy held mock survival training sessions in and around the training grounds surrounding the village. It was led by the chunin instructors. It could last anywhere between a few days to a couple of weeks. Naruto remembered these times somewhat more fondly than the others. It also explained Iruka's presence here. With no classes to teach he had been assigned to the mission desk. Though Naruto knew it was more likely that he volunteered.

"Hey! People are waiting here," shouted one of the disgruntled chunin in the queue.

"Hold your horses will you?" Iruka shouted back, before shooting Naruto an apologetic look. Taking this as his cue, Naruto handed over his mission reports.

"We should catch up sometime." Iruka continued handing Naruto his paycheck.

"Yeah we should," Naruto agreed, "Can't wait to tell you all about the excitement my last mission entailed when I stubbed my toe while painting a fence. Speaking of which you wouldn't happen to have any C-ranks for me would you?"

"You know you need a full genin team…."

"… And a jounin instructor… yeah I know. I had to try."

Iruka must have picked up on his dejection despite his attempts to hide it and his next words confirmed it.

"Tell you what. Why don't you meet me for lunch tomorrow? That will give you the chance to brag about the Chunin exams you participated in."

"I don't know…." Naruto muttered noncommittally.

"I'll be buying."

"Ichiraku's at one?"

"Fine. Now get out of here brat, before you start a riot at the queue."

Naruto laughed good naturedly as he walked out of the room, feeling better than he did when he walked in.

"Sempai!" A female voice came from somewhere behind him. Naruto paid it little mind. He wanted to get home, fix some dinner and go to sleep. Maybe he should make a trip to Ichiraku's. He hadn't seen Teuchi and Ayame in a while.

"Sempai!"

But then again he would be having lunch there tomorrow. So seeing his friends could wait. But he was really craving ramen right now.

"Sempai!" The voice called out again. This time a lot closer than before. Now Naruto was beginning to get annoyed at this nameless 'sempai' ignoring this girl. But before he could turn around and arm wrapped itself around his own and turned him around to come face to face with a familiar face.

"Miyuki?" He exclaimed on seeing the girl who for the last thirty seconds had been trying to get his attention.

"Hey!" The girl's face was flushed. "I thought you were ignoring me."

"Yeah sorry about that," Naruto apologized running his hand through his hair. "I just wasn't expecting anyone I knew that's all."

As far as surprises went, this was a somewhat pleasant one. A few months ago in the Chunin exams held in Iwa, Naruto had been asked to be a part of her team to replace a teammate who had somehow managed to break his ass during a D-ranked mission. Naruto still wasn't sure if it was funny that someone got hurt during a D-ranked or tragic because it happened more often than one would imagine. But he had bonded with the girl during the exams and she had picked up a mild case of hero-worship for him.

"We just came back from a C-rank," she said once the initial pleasantries had been exchanged, "sensei and the guys are at the mission desk submitting the report."

"That's great," Naruto fought down a pang of jealousy at her words, "so are you guys participating in the next exams?"

Miyuki shook her head, "Sensei thinks we should gain some more experience and skills before we attempt again, seeing how the last one went… if you hadn't been there we would've been dead for sure."

Naruto nodded. It was true. He did save their lives. But they believed that he saved them from a team of Iwa ANBU.

That wasn't exactly true. They were being hunted, but it wasn't by a team of ANBU. There was only one in the team that attacked them. The rest were more than likely just your run of the mill chunin. Which was a good thing otherwise things might have gotten a little hairy. They had underestimated him, which factored in him dispatching them fairly easily.

But he really didn't mind her thinking that. After all what is an exaggerated tale or two without a couple of embellishments?

"There you are," a male voice interrupted their conversation, "we wondered where you'd gone… Hey Naruto."

Naruto recognized the new arrival as Katashi, the other member of his temporary team. He raised a hand acknowledging him. Katashi walked up to them holding what looked like a paycheck.

"I did ask to be excused," Miyuki scowled, obviously annoyed at being interrupted.

"I just came to hand you your check," Katashi defended himself, a little nonplussed at hostility emanating from the girl, "also sensei is treating us to dinner, would you like to join us?"

The question was obviously meant for Naruto and the boy was obviously being polite. Naruto was about to refuse.

"Do join us sempai," Miyuke chimed in, "I'm sure sensei would like to speak with you too."

Well that changed things. On the one hand Naruto was sure while their sensei probably would like to talk to him. The jounin had after all enlisted him to allow his team to participate in the exams. They probably won't appreciate doing that in front of their genin. Definitely not while he would be mooching off of them in a team gathering.

Still…. It was a free meal, and Naruto felt he deserved a meal at the very least for his troubles . He was about to open his mouth to accept, when there was another interruption, this time by a jounin.

And not just any jounin.

Most people in Konoha would say he was 'The' jounin.

"Maa maa Miyuki-san, I would beg you to consider postponing your dinner plans with Naruto-kun," The jounin addressed the genin, "I'm afraid I've to borrow him with regards to a matter of some urgency. You don't mind do you?"

The sudden unexpected arrival of the jounin had left the younger genin tongue-tied. Naruto didn't blame them. Even by the standards of jounin the man's appearance was unsettling. And despite the polite tenor of his voice and words, it was obvious he wasn't asking for permission.

"Um…"

"Excellent," he said as if the matter was settled, "shall we?" He addressed Naruto.

Naruto sighed helplessly. "Sorry guys, guess I'll have to take a rain-check on that dinner. Maybe next time."

Naruto followed the man outside the mission centre and soon fell into a step beside him. Soon the two of them were traversing through the Konoha market. It was a Wednesday. The traders sold their wares at reduced prices compared to the rest of the week. So it was a busier than usual.

"You know you just cost me a free meal right?" Naruto said, more than a little annoyed at the jounin.

"Technically ,free meals don't cost anything," came the witty reply.

"Yeah… I'm out of here." Naruto said, turning to walk away.

"Maa maa that was just a joke Naruto-kun," the man said placating the blonde genin, "but I've to ask, aren't you curious as to why I sought you out?"

Naruto was curious alright, extremely so as a matter of fact. But he also knew conversations like this were like a game of poker, and they held stakes. His curiosity versus whatever purpose the man needed him for. His ignorance of the said purpose was both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand whatever Kakashi had to say could definitely of use to him, on the other hand it could also lead to a situation he wouldn't be able to walk out of if he didn't do it now.

"Does it have something to do with my next meal?" Naruto quipped.

"…"

"Thought so." Naruto continued on his way. "I wish you a good night."

Naruto was feeling rather pleased with himself, before the jounin brought him crashing down.

"I could always order you to follow me." The man said in his trademark lazy drawl.

Naruto froze in his tracks. He hadn't thought of that. The jounin could indeed do that. He probably knew this might happen. Judging from his smug smile(not that he could see it behind his mask. The crinkling of his lone visible eye was indication enough though) he probably wanted it to happen.

"You wouldn't," Naruto tried to salvage some pride, but it was obvious he was only making things worse. The man however continued to regard him with his benign gaze, not bothering to even reply. Naruto sighed in defeat, before once again falling in a step besides the man. You don't challenge a royal flush to a show of hands with a lousy pair after all. Gotta know when to fold them after all.

"So where are we going?"

"Well it is time for dinner, I was hoping you could join me."

"…"

Naruto couldn't recall wanting to punch a man more in his life.

To say he was impressed would be an understatement. The man might be an A-grade jerk but he certainly wasn't a cheapskate. The restaurant he had been led to was one of those expensive posh types. Neon-blue lights lit up the entrance. Judging by the way the uniformed escort greeted Kakashi it was obvious that he was a regular here. Considering how he was able to simply jump the queue outside, he must be one the patrons.

A dark haired pretty woman probably in her twenties dressed in a blue flower-patterned kimono led them to a table near the back-end of the restaurant. Once they were seated Kakashi placed his order, before gazing at Naruto to do the same. Naruto was hoping to get some ramen. But he needed to get some payback on the man who had dragged him here. So he ordered three of the most expensive dishes on the menu. If it bothered the jounin, he didn't show it.

The server left but not before placing a bottle of warm sake on the table. The jounin poured some out in a saucer and offered it to Naruto before pouring some out for himself.

"May the will of fire burn brightly in you." The man raised his saucer, toasting Naruto.

"And may it have ignited a hundred more before going out," Naruto finished the ritual, before throwing the drink down his throat. He winced at the burn of the alcohol as it went down. It was strong stuff. He wasn't a great drinker and wasn't particularly fond of the drink either. But he endured. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how on earth did the jounin drink it without removing his mask? He must have missed it. His saucer was empty, and he was now pouring a second round.

"You aren't going to kill me are you?" Naruto queried.

"No. Why would I want to kill you?"

"I don't know. What would an elite jounin want with a washed-out genin?"

"Touche."

"So, back to my original question. What do you want Hatake-san?" Naruto was through playing games, he simply folded his hands in front of his face and studied the man.

"Hmmm… So I'm assuming you do know me."

Yes, Naruto knew the man. Even among the jounin the man was an elite. The cream of the crop so to speak. A hero in the last war, his exploits during and after the war had made him a legend. Though not yet thirty the man had survived through everything a shinobi possibly could and more. There was a legend that the man once cut through a bolt of lightning with his jutsu. Rumor had it that he was being considered for the post of Hokage after the demise of the Sandaime, before it finally went to Tsunade Senju.

"Only by reputation."

Kakashi inclined his head in acknowledgement of Naruto's unsaid praise.

"What do you know of Team-Seven Naruto-kun?" He asked.

There was a pause in the conversation as their server appeared with their food. Once she left, with a hasty 'Itidakimasu' Naruto dug in with gusto. He was hungry, and Kakashi was paying. It was no ramen, but it sure as hell was close. So for the next few minutes the conversation was halted as he inhaled his food. If Kakashi was offended by his table manners, he didn't show it.

"No more than anyone else." Naruto said modestly between bites, actually he knew more than most people, being something of a fanboy when it came to the Kage of the leaf. It was the one aspect of his theoretical education he excelled at, going above and beyond the standard textbooks provided at the Academy. "I know it used to be the single greatest shinobi unit in Konoha. They were known to enforce the will of the Hokage under his/her direct authority, and also produced future candidates. Loved by their people and feared everywhere else."

"Right you are." Kakashi said, sounding pleased, "since the time of Nidaime-sama, Team-Seven has served as the arm of the Hokage. As you no doubt know, the Sandaime, Yondaime and even the Godaime have been products of this team."

Despite not quite sure where Kakashi was going with this, Naruto found himself enjoying the conversation. The place had a nice ambience, the food was heavenly, and he was listening to stories of legends by arguably the greatest living shinobi in Konoha. There were worse ways to spend an evening.

"Over time, however this institution collapsed." The jounin continued, "The last Team-Seven was disbanded over fifteen years ago."

"Why was that?" Naruto couldn't help asking.

"I'm sure it wasn't over anything important," Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"I don't know, sounds pretty important to me."

"The point is," Kakashi kept talking ignoring Naruto's query, "The Hokage believes it is time Team-Seven was reinstated. This time under me."

That was all very interesting, Naruto had to admit, he just wasn't sure why he was being told this.

"Is that why you threw this…party?" Naruto spread his arms indicating the impressive spread of food remaining on the table. "I'm sure congratulating you would be the right sentiment, but I must confess I feel rather sorry for you, if I'm the only one you had in your guest-list."

"I'm afraid you misunderstand me Uzumaki-san." Kakashi said. "This dinner isn't celebratory, its business."

Now Naruto never considered himself among the brightest Konoha had to offer. His current rank and station were the perfect indicators of that. But street-smarts were something he prided himself on. The smarts he had earned from the school of hard-knocks. Those instincts of his were now working overtime as he pieced everything together.

"That's right Uzumaki-san," Kakashi said correctly interpreting the look of dawning comprehension on Naruto's face, "I'm here to recruit you."

The piece of unagi between the two chopsticks didn't seem to make its way to his mouth. He replaced the chopsticks back on his plate, as he stared hard at Kakashi, all cheerfulness gone.

"Is this a joke?" He demanded.

"I assure you I have never been more serious." Kakashi assured him, his tone graver than it had been all night.

"Why on earth would you want a genin-washout in a team which has been known to churn out legends?" Naruto remarked,"If these are the standards we're setting I'd be really worried for Konoha."

"You seem to have a remarkably low opinion of your skills," Kakashi countered, "And of me as well if you think I didn't do my homework on you. You were after all Jiraiya's apprentice."

Naruto held the gaze of Kakashi's lone eye, ignoring the stab of pain in his heart at the mention of his old sensei's name and focusing on the implications of the words. Only one other knew of his association with the now dead sannin and Kakashi coming here meant he was in their confidence. But he chose to hold his silence for now, letting the man speak.

"During his years of travel, Jiraiya had managed to create the most sophisticated information-network the elemental nations has ever seen," Kakashi said, "A network which served Konoha well, while he was alive. A network which now lies dormant."

"So that's why you want me?"

"You're the only one alive who knows how it operates."

That confirmed it. A big game was afoot here and the stakes were high. The network Jiraiya had painstakingly created was totally independent of the 'official' Konoha network. The sheer complexity and intricacy of the thing was an art in itself.

He had hoped it would never be needed.

"Believe it or not, in some ways you'll be the most important part of this team," Kakashi said gravely, "it's not a bad gig. You'll formally be a part of a team, running high-ranked mission not to mention a chance to rise through the ranks."

Naruto could hardly believe what he was hearing. Barely an hour ago he was lamenting his luck for being unable to go on higher ranked missions and now he was being asked to be a part of the greatest one eve.

Well potentially anyway. There were concerns... a lot of them in fact, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He was about to be part of a team. That was all that mattered.

"In that case." Naruto closed his eyes, when he opened the again, they were shining with their usual mirth, "How can I refuse? So when do I meet the rest of the team?"

"Actually the team isn't complete yet." Kakashi's tone reverted back to its cheerful tenor, "As your first assignment, I need you to recruit the last member."

"Me?" Naruto blinked owlishly at Kakashi as he registered his words, "Why on earth would you want me to do that?"

"Because Naruto-kun, I believe you are the best man for the job." Kakashi handed the bewildered genin a folder. Naruto opened it with some trepidation. His eyes widened when he studied its contents.

"No way."

**Character Profile**

**Sasuke Uchiha**

**Affiliation: Konoha**

**Registration ID: 0896**

**Rank: Chunin, ANBU Hunter-nin(formerly).**

**Teams: Team 5(formerly), Team 7(current)**

**Bio: Sasuke Uchiha is the last of his extremely feared martial clan the Uchiha after his elder brother in a fit of madness murdered his entire clan down to the last child, except for Sasuke. Vowing vengeance he patiently awaits the day when he can finally make his brother pay for his crimes. Graduated the academy at the age of twelve at the top of his class and becoming chunin at the age of thirteen on his first try at the Chunin exams held in Suna. He eventually went on to join the ANBU black-ops where he distinguished himself as a man who completed his missions without any collateral damage. A feat matched only by Hatake Kakashi, his ANBU mentor. Considered a genius on par with Hatake Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi, he is well on his way to more glory**.

**A/N:- Well hope that chapter clears a few things. As you probably have guessed by now, that Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura weren't the part of the same team when they graduated. One of the major plot points of this story is that they grew into their own without being influenced by each other. So the Team-7 of this fic will have characters who already have undergone some serious development off-screen, things which will be explored as they are revealed. I will be leaving these character bios at the end of each chapter to help the reader with the story, so as to reduce some confusion as to how much it differs from the canon. Anyway, thanks for reading, do let me know what you thought.**

**Until next time.**


	3. Welcome to Team-7

**A/N:-Another week another chapter. This was rather hard to write. Kept coming back to change things again and again and still was left unsatisfied. Hoping for some feedback to assure me otherwise or telling me what it needs. Either works. That's why I'm here after all. Just building the plot up for now. So things might seem slow as there is still some things which need to be built up before they can be resolved. But I don't plan on dragging this for long and we will get to the missions part soon enough. Anyway enjoy.**

**Chapter 2**

**Welcome to Team-7.**

Shikamaru reached the assigned spot at 8 AM. Almost an hour before he was told to get there. The reasons for getting there early had nothing to do with his eagerness for the new job, but rather, as hard as it was to believe his own laziness. It was something he had worked out when he was barely a month into his stint at the Academy. After weeks of being pestered by his mother into getting ready for classes, he had decided to avoid the entire hassle by getting up early and reaching the Academy an hour early. It gave him time to sleep uninterrupted till the instructor made it to the class.

It also had the added benefit of getting his mother off his back, who was now proud of her son's enthusiasm towards his education and dedication to the shinobi life. A fact she never failed to regale her husband and friends with. His old man unlike his mother however, wasn't fooled and knew exactly what he was up to. But he never made a big deal, or rather any deal out of it. A fact he was thankful for, at least in the beginning anyway. The man had then proceeded to exploit this leverage(over his own son!) by getting him to do his share of chores around the house. At times he wondered if carrying on the charade was worth it.

But there were few things he loved more than his morning nap, a fact his father was fully aware of, so he decided to play along, begrudgingly, waiting for the day he'd have some dirt over his dad. But the man was more crafty and devious than he gave him credit for and despite his best efforts he failed miserably. So he had decided that trying to find decent blackmail material on his father was more trouble than it was worth and things continued as they were till the day he graduated the Academy.

A part of him did wonder what he was doing here? He had been discharged for crying out loud. He was content in his empty and miserable existence. So the question remained. The answer wasn't something he had to ponder too hard over.

Naruto Uzumaki.

**2 Days ago**

**Tobirama Senju Park, Konoha**

**11:06 AM**

Shikamaru studied the three shougi boards in front of him. Two of his opponents were men in their fifties and the third just a couple of years older. The games were on their fifteenth, eighteenth and twenty-first move respectively. The length of the game had little to do with the prowess of his adversaries though. He could've finished each of those games within the twenty moves.

But this also happened to be one of his steady sources of income. If people realized how good he really was no-one would play him ever again.

Pragmatism before pride was one of the mottos he lived by. He'd lose a game here and there, to keep things interesting and to attract more opponents. He gave good odds to them too, most of the time in their favor.

So then why was he showing off by playing three of them at the same time? The short answer would be money, ten-thousand ryo to be precise. That kind of dough was nothing to sneeze at.

Focusing on the game he finished all three before thirty moves. The crowd which had gathered around the players dispersed.

"Good game kid," one of his challengers patted him on the back good-naturedly, while handing him the cash, the other two were a little more sour, but paid nevertheless. He was here for the money not the goodwill anyway.

Shikamaru couldn't help the smirk on his face as he collected his winnings. It was almost too easy.

"Hey! How about a game with me?"

Shikamaru turned to the source of the voice to see a blonde guy grinning like an idiot at him, as if seeing him was the best thing that happened to him in ages.

"I only play for money," he remarked, the blonde wasn't discouraged though as he reached into his pocket to fish out some money. A few crumpled notes and some coins were all he could manage.

"I have got... 10 ryo," he said counting his money as he placed it on the table.

After his recent windfall he really wasn't eager for a game for a meager ten ryo. But he and the new arrival had a history of sorts and he was the only guy in Konoha who could lay claim to having Shikamaru in his debt.

"Take a seat then and I will set the board," Shikamaru sighed, "you can take black."

A few moves into the game, Shikamaru decided that he had waited enough.

"What are you doing here Naruto? You hate shougi."

"I came here to see how you were doing Shika," Naruto moved his knight challenging Shika's rook. "It's been what? Three years?"

"Three years four months and fifteen days," He moved his own knight threatening Naruto's bishop, "and cut the bullshit will you?"

"But who's counting?" Naruto remarked dryly, moving his bishop getting it out of the danger zone, "I've been assigned a team."

"Congratulations," he said and removed one of Naruto's vulnerable rooks with one of his own.

"Thanks," he said, a little disgruntled about losing a powerful piece but tried to bolster his defences by moving a pawn, "What'd you say if I told you that as my first assignment I have to recruit you?"

"I'd say someone is yanking your chain," he moved his bishop to take Naruto's knight, "check."

"Why'd someone like Kakashi Hatake yank my chain?" Naruto tried to salvage some pride by taking one of his rooks.

"I don't know, why'd someone like Kakashi want you in his team at all?"

The veiled insult failed to dampen Naruto's enthusiasm as he merely smirked at Shikamaru as if he knew something that he didn't.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"….How long have you waited to say that?"

"Nearly my whole life."

"Hmmm… that explains it," Shikamaru said as he moved his last move, "and that's checkmate."

"What?" Naruto stared at the board disbelievingly, "Already?"

Shikamaru shrugged as he began collecting the pieces and the money.

"C'mon Shika." Naruto whined.

"If you want a rematch come back tomorrow."

"I meant you joining the team."

"First of all I'm not buying it," he was beginning to get annoyed now, "Secondly, I've been discharged, dishonorably if you remember, so what makes you think I'd want to even if I could?"

Naruto sighed heavily at his words.

"What happened during that mission wasn't your fault Shika, I've said it before and I will say it again. But that's not why I am here today." Naruto took a deep breath and met his gaze, "I have a feeling that whatever I am walking into right now is going to get extremely hairy. So what I am trying to say is that I would feel a lot better if you were there to watch my back."

And just like that a matter Shikamaru hadn't even bothered giving a second thought to, became the biggest decision to ever be taken by him.

Naruto then handed him a scroll.

"These are your reassignment papers." Naruto explained, "all you gotta to do is sign them and you will be reinstated as a Chunin in the Konoha Shinobi Corps."

Shikamaru stared blankly at the scroll he had been handed. His usually sharp mind was for the first time in a long time at a loss to process any of this.

"I can't go through that again Naruto," he called out to the retreating back of his once comrade his voice breaking.

"It'll be different this time Shika," the blonde said without turning around, "I promise."

**XxX**

Having played that meeting over and over in his head, Shikamaru wondered if there was any way he could have gotten himself out of his current situation. Part of him admired Naruto for having maneuvered him to right where he was, another resented him for having managed to do it. He was supposed to be the genius goddamnit! But despite his feelings on the matter, this deserved a look-in.

The scroll in his pocket felt rather heavy. He hadn't signed it yet. He needed to make sure that this wasn't some elaborate hoax first. He didn't want to be conned into something he could have avoided with a little circumspection after all.

All of this seemed too good to be true. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been proud of being a shinobi. Despite his less than stellar performance at the academy, he had managed to be the first in his class to attain the rank of chunin. The day he was dishonorably discharged had been one of the darkest days of his life. The only reason it wasn't the darkest was because of the reason for his discharge. His experiences with stuff like that had driven some hard-hitting life-lessons into him, lessons which came at a really heavy price. So now when he was offered what he had lost, he wanted to see the strings attached to that present.

A presence in the field broke him out of thoughts. He didn't bother moving or even opening his eyes. Whoever it was, they weren't hostile. He wasn't moving from his place unless he had to. The person whoever it was moved closer till they were standing right over him.

"Shikamaru?" A girl's voice, vaguely familiar called out to him as if they couldn't quite believe themselves, "is that really you?"

Finally not having the excuse to keep up the charade of being asleep, he opened one eye to study his….companion. He was greeted by the sight of pink hair and green eyes.

"Sakura Haruno," the name came to his lips almost involuntarily, "are you here for the same reason I am?"

"I don't know," Sakura eyed him rather suspiciously, "why are you here?"

To be fair, Shikamaru really hadn't expected that blatant attempt to gather information work, especially not on someone like Sakura. But it was worth a try, and her evasive response had answered his question anyway.

"I'm here to meet a friend," he replied truthfully, kinda. Naruto qualified as a friend he supposed, though he definitely was unlike any he ever had.

"A friend?" Sakura said skeptically, folding her arms as she towered over his prone form, "in a ninja training ground?"

"Well, that must mean my friend must be a ninja doesn't it?" he said nonchalantly, closing his eyes back again.

Despite his closed eyes he could feel the girl's gaze trying to bore a hole through him. He could literally hear the gears turning in her head, as she tried to deduce the reasons for his presence there. All of which pertained to rather sensitive issues. Eventually her fidgeting was too much for him.

"I got reinstated," he said deciding to put the girl out of her misery, not really elaborating that he hadn't accepted yet.

"Oh.." Sakura said, apparently satisfied, but now left with even more questions she wasn't sure how to put forward. Well too bad.

The two of them fell into a more comfortable if still a little awkward silence. They belonged to the same batch in the Academy, that's how they knew each other. To say they were friends would have been a gross exaggeration though. They were casual acquaintances if even that. He only knew her as one of Ino's lackeys. So it wasn't really surprising that they had avoided each other's radars altogether.

Not anymore it seemed.

"So, who's this friend you're meeting?" She asked him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said, not really knowing how to skirt around a direct question like that, besides if he was being honest maybe the sentiment will be reciprocated, "so what about you? Who are you waiting for?"

Sakura considered him for a moment before seemingly making up her mind.

"I'm waiting for my jounin commander," she said, "before you ask, no I don't know him, I was just assigned and told to report here."

"Maybe someone played a practical joke on you." He ventured.

"I don't think the Hokage has a sense of humor," she snapped irritably at him.

"Oh…. Okay."

Well the plot thickened. Whatever this team was apparently the Hokage had a stake in its formation. When Naruto had dropped Kakashi's name, he hadn't really believed it. Now with Sakura implying what she was, some of his old worries dissipated but as was often the case, new ones took their place. Whatever was going down it was big.

Last time he had bitten off more than he could chew, it really hadn't ended well. Maybe he should walk away while he still had the chance.

"So, who is this Naruto Uzumaki anyway?" Sakura queried, planting herself on the ground not far from him.

"Not anyone you'd know." Shikamaru answered, "he graduated a couple of batches before us."

"And how do you know him?"

"Seriously! What's with the interrogation?" he barked, "Can't you just... wait till whoever it is that you're waiting for comes?"

Sakura's face burned red with indignation and embarrassment.

"Gee, sorry if my questions got too personal," she retorted, before pulling her knees to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. She was now facing away from him.

Shikamaru sighed. Troublesome woman making him feel guilty.

"He was part of the mission I led as a chunin," he explained somewhat reluctantly, "before I was... let go."

He saw Sakura's back stiffen before slowly turning around, her green eyes filled with pity and sorrow as she seemed to understand why he reacted the way he did. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. He had led only one team during his tragically brief stint as a chunin.

"I'm sorry Shikamaru." She said.

"Don't worry about it," he waved off her apology while trying to ignore his own pain at the same time, "you didn't know."

Fortunately he was relieved off the need to dispel the tension as the topic of their conversation chose to make his presence.

"Hey Shika!" The blonde called out as he walked in greeting him, in all of his orange glory while still twenty yards away from him. To complete the picture there was a half-eaten rice-ball in his hand, "you're here early."

"I'd have…Whoa!"

Shikamaru wondered what could have possibly stopped him half-way through a sentence, when he realized Naruto was now openly gaping at Sakura as if not quite sure what he was seeing.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably as she withstood his gaze. She turned to Shika as if to ask what his deal was, before the blonde finally opened his mouth to speak. Years from now he would regret not being able to record this moment as Naruto said his first words to Sakura.

"Wow! That almost looks natural," He exclaimed, his voice full of awe, "what'd you do to get that color?"

Sakura was stunned. In all her life she had never met a guy as blunt as the one who was managing a pretty impressive impersonation of a fish at the moment. Even when she had started the Academy her classmates had refrained from making fun of the rather unusual color of her hair. So shocked was she by his tactless inquiry that all she could do was mutter incoherently for a while before finally saying.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm digging your style," The guy told her, "I never thought anyone could pull it off, but I have to admit you do it rather well."

Now Sakura wasn't sure if she should be pleased or outraged. It didn't look like the blonde was joking or being malicious, despite what his goofy appearance suggested. Eventually she decided even if he wasn't making fun of her, fashion-approval from an orange wearing moron couldn't possibly be good. So, outraged it was.

"This. Is. My natural color." She said through gritted teeth.

"Wow! Really?" The boy remained awestruck, seemingly oblivious to the dam of righteous feminine fury about to explode all over him, "damn! I was really hoping you had dyed it, but anyway I am Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura looked at the proffered hand suspiciously, before shooting Shikamaru a look which screamed 'Is this guy serious?' Shikamaru just shrugged. Sakura would never know how hard he had been trying to hold back his laughter. One of the reasons for his non-verbal gesture was that he really didn't trust himself to speak afraid he'd lose it completely.

"And I think you should come down, waiting there can't possibly be comfortable," Naruto spoke again, this time apparently to the trees lining the training ground not giving Sakura a chance to respond.

A few seconds later, when nothing happened, Sakura decided the guy had a few loose nuts and Shikamaru's theory about this being a practical joke making more sense by the second.

"C'mon man!" He called out again, already losing interest in Sakura, "you're making me look bad here."

'Could this guy get any weirder?' Sakura thought to herself. She took a deep breath ready to tear into the guy when finally a figure walked out of the tree-line, glaring at the blonde. Sakura gasped and even Shikamaru gave a grunt of recognition.

Approaching them was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

Even fifteen minutes ago if someone had told Sasuke that one day he'd meet someone who can be more obnoxious than Kakashi, he'd have laughed in their face, saying such a thing couldn't be possible.

Its funny how drastically your world-view can change in a few minutes.

This just hadn't been his week. It had started out well enough though. He had successfully eliminated the missing-nin he was after on Monday after cornering them near a hot-spring in Kusa. No witnesses and no hassles whatsoever. He'd then gone on to take some down-time in that town. The journey back had been inconsequential and so come Wednesday he couldn't be faulted for not knowing what was waiting for him back home.

Long story short he'd been literally fired from ANBU and then reinstated as a part of the regular corps under Kakashi of all people.

On Thursday however he'd played off the events of Wednesday as a figment of his imagination when he went to the ANBU HQ where he was promptly told at the very first checkpoint that his security clearance had been revoked.

He'd not taken that well. Nearly an hour of repeated pleading, shouting and threatening had failed to yield any positive results and on seeing the guard's finger itching towards his stun-baton, he had finally accepted his fate and trudged back home, awaiting the next day when he could finally wring Kakashi's neck.

On Friday he placed himself in prime ambush position, out of sight in the cluster of trees surrounding the training ground. It was only then that he belatedly recalled Kakashi's habit of being late. To his surprise however he hadn't even been the first one there. It was Nara Shikamaru who had beaten him to it. A guy he knew from his Academy days.

Strange! He had been sure the guy had been discharged. Then to his dismay, Sakura Haruno another one of his ex-classmates entered the field. These were people he was sure he wouldn't have to deal with ever again.

He forced himself to calm down. It was possible that she was here for a purpose other than what he was here for. Though he had a feeling he was being overly optimistic. It was almost time and no one else seemed to be coming. Plus if he was to be a part of a three man cell, he had a feeling that he was looking at his future teammates. He heard snatches of their conversation. Apparently he hadn't been mistaken about Shikamaru being kicked out of the shinobi program. But the guy claimed he had been reinstated.

Sasuke wondered how he had managed that.

At least things couldn't get worse, he had told himself.

He'd be kicking himself in a little while.

The reason for that made its presence made known. Literally. He could see him coming him from a mile away. His orange clothes and blonde hair would have stood out in an open market, in an empty field the contrast was even more glaring.

Well to be fair the guy wasn't exactly trying to hide himself. He had even greeted Shikamaru from across half the field. A part of Sasuke couldn't help feeling relieved though. That made three, maybe this wasn't to be his team after all. He even managed to enjoy the interaction which succeeded, between the blonde guy and the girl. His comments had left Sakura gaping like a fish and almost completely speechless.

But then something strange happened. The blonde looked straight at his hiding place and spoke.

"And I think you should come down, waiting there can't possibly be comfortable."

Sasuke was shocked. Not since his early days as an ANBU trainee had he been made out as easily as he had just been right now. He waited, maybe he was calling out to his cat or something.

No such luck.

"C'mon man!" He said when he didn't receive a response, "you're making me look bad here."

Reluctantly and more than a little bewildered he came out of his hiding place gaining a gasp of recognition from Sakura.

"You guys know each other?" He said, evidently not missing the reaction of his companions to Sasukes' appearance.

"Sasuke Uchiha used to be our classmate." Shikamaru answered his query.

"Uchiha huh?" Sasuke could see the dots connecting in the blonde's eyes. "Well I guess I'm the only one who needs to be introduced then," the blonde said, "I'm.."

"Not interested." Sasuke interrupted him. Seriously did this guy ever shut up? He was beginning to give him a headache.

The blonde paused mid-sentence studying Sasuke wearing a thoroughly confused expression and his hand extended in an offer of a handshake, before he turned to Sakura.

"Gee, he is a dick isn't he?" He said matter-of-factly.

Sakura who still seemed to be recovering from Sasuke's sudden appearance belatedly realized she was the one Naruto was addressing.

"What?" She asked dazedly.

"Look I don't know what your deal is." Sasuke said irritably, "I am here to see Kakashi Hatake, so it will be better if we can ignore each other till he gets here."

He didn't like the sparkle that entered the blonde's eyes at those words. He liked what he said next even less.

"Well, so are we." He said, "At least me and Shikamaru are. What about you…" He added as an afterthought addressing Sakura.

Sakura for the first time realized she didn't know who her jounin commander was supposed to be? She had been told to be here and like a good soldier she was. She had absolutely no idea who they were. She doubted though that she'd be on team with these guys, not if what Naruto was saying was true anyway. A regular team consisted of three shinobi. The boys were here to meet the same jounin, that left her as the odd-one out.

Maybe she was waiting in the wrong place.

"I don't know, I'm supposed to meet my new team here."

"Tch… Whatever." Sasuke was beginning to lose interest as he turned to put some distance between him and the others, "Don't bother me till he gets here then, and you better brace yourself, we will be waiting a while."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked a little mystified.

But Sasuke had said all he wanted to say, and moved himself away from the others, to stand and lean on one of the training posts doing his best to ignore them.

"That guy was your classmate? What a douche!" Naruto remarked.

"After 'that' incident, he became an arrogant anti-social jerk." Shikamaru explained.

"What was he like before?"

"…An arrogant anti-social jerk."

"Figures."

"Give him a break okay." Sakura said impatiently coming to Sasuke's defense.

Shikamaru glared at Sakura for a while, wanting to give her a piece of his mind, before deciding it wasn't worth the trouble he would be subjecting himself to. He simply lay back down placing an arm over his eyes.

"Wake me up when he gets here."

Naruto and Sakura stood around a little awkwardly in the silence, before Sakura decided to squat down on the field, Naruto soon imitating her.

"I haven't caught your name yet."

"Sakura Haruno." She answered the blonde, in the hopes it will shut him up.

"Haruno?" Naruto mused, "Any relation to Kizashi Haruno?"

"How do you know my father?" Sakura asked despite herself.

"He led a bunch of us during the invasion to defend the Southern Sector," he said good-naturedly waving his hands, "I remember seeing him fight and wishing I could do half the things he did."

Sakura remembered. Her father had received a glowing commendation from the Jounin Commander himself for his exemplary conduct during the invasion. His actions had prevented the reinforcements of the enemy from getting to the centre of the village something which later proved decisive in turning the tide against them. What made it even more impressive was that he had made that stand against an enemy, which outnumbered his forces of mostly genin by six to one.

"Why aren't you wearing your chunin vest?" She changed the subject, as proud as she was of her father, he was a topic she would rather avoid.

"The Hokage is holding it for me, eagerly awaiting the day I can take it off of her hands." Naruto said.

Sakura felt like kicking herself. In trying to get the conversation out of awkward waters, she had probably made things worse, because despite the blonde's joking tone, she could hear the hint of bitterness coloring it.

"So you're a medic huh?" He said, pointing to the insignia of a slug just over the official Konoha symbol which endorsed the back of her chunin-vest.

"Yeah." Sakura said off-handedly, "What about it?"

"That's really cool."

Her expression softened. Being a medic was something Sakura took a lot of pride in. One of the first things Tsunade had done on being appointed as Hokage, was revive the dwindling state of Konoha's Medical Program. Within six months of her arrival, she had overhauled the entire system. The results were for everyone to see. Konoha now had one medic-nin for every six shinobi. While it was still some way from her goal of one for every four, it was way better than the one in thirteen ratio that was prevalent when she had taken up the mantle. The symbol of the slug was worn with pride by the members of the medical corps.

"Wow! So you must be some sort of genius huh?"

Sakura tried to listen for any trace of condescension or jealousy in his voice. She found none. Despite the sort of weird beginning, she had to admit she was beginning to enjoy his company. This wasn't the first time someone had praised her or gushed about her, but it had always been done mostly out of politeness or professional courtesy. Then there were those who were all smiles while congratulating her on her achievements while poorly concealing their envy. Very rarely had she encountered the sincerity that Naruto was displaying.

This was also the first time since her ill-fated mission when someone wasn't trying to treat her like a delicate sculpture.

"Well…" She said trying to be as modest as she could, when they were interrupted again.

"At least two of you are trying to bond."

The high-pitched squeal of surprise she heard she'd later learn had come from her. But what amazed her was Naruto's reaction, who was now perched atop a training post, with his kunai drawn, even Shikamaru had jerked awake with a start and Sasuke just glared balefully at the newest presence.

"You're late Kakashi," Naruto dismounted from the post as if it was something he did on a regular basis, "thought this was supposed to be important."

"Hmmm….. am I now? Lost track." The man seemed totally unaffected by the chaos he had caused, merely turning a page of the paperback he was perusing.

'So this is Kakashi' Sakura thought to herself, after getting her heart-rate to somewhat normal levels.

She had never felt so… underwhelmed. She knew him by sight, almost everyone in the village did and so did most of the shinobi world. But then with his trademark silver hair and the Konoha headband over one eye, not to mention the mask he did stand-out.

"Well," The man shut the book and pocketed it, "I see everyone's here."

"And then some," Sasuke said still glaring at the jounin.

Sakura realized that the comment was directed at her and shot him an irritated look. She tried to defend the guy but he always made it so hard.

"Now now Sasuke that's hardly the way to talk about your new comrades." Kakashi said placatingly.

"What are you playing at Kakashi?" Sasuke folded his arms, turning his full attention to the jounin, "A standard cell consists of four members, there are five of us here, so unless you're telling me that two of these losers actually combine to have the competence of one, I'm getting out of here."

"Empty threats Sasuke," the jounin's voice retained its usual casual tenor, but Sakura suddenly felt the temperature drop a couple of degrees, "you'll be here for as long as I want you to be."

Sasuke's didn't relax his aggressive stance, but kept his mouth shut. Even Naruto seemed to be affected as he shifted his weight uneasily on the balls of his feet.

The five of them stood in tense silence, following Kakashi's declaration in a stand-off of sorts.

"So, let's commence what we are here for shall we?" Kakashi said cheerfully, "As of today you guys are now part of Team 7."

"…"

"You're kidding."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Kakashi responded to Sasuke's comment, "no, I'm not. Starting Monday we embark on missions under the direct authority of the Hokage."

"So what are we supposed to do for the rest of the day?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"That's up to you," Kakashi replied pulling out his book again.

"That's it?" Sakura voiced her own thoughts.

"Yup," Came the reply, "move along now, and assemble at the Mission Desk on Monday, 8 AM sharp."

More than a little confused Sakura tentatively turned around, to follow the jounin's command, Sasuke had already made himself scarce and was nowhere in sight now, even Shikamaru was trudging out, but Naruto remained rooted to the spot glaring at the jounin or rather at what he was reading.

"Is that Icha-Icha Battle series Vol. 7?" He questioned him.

"Why yes it is," The man seemed pleasantly surprised, "you're a fan I take it."

"Quite the opposite in fact." Naruto said, "I happen to know its trashy smut."

"Do you now?" Kakashi said absent-mindedly, losing his interest in the conversation now that he knew Naruto wasn't a fan, "I'm assuming your low opinion of it didn't stop you from actually reading it."

"Oh I didn't read it," Naruto assured the jounin before walking away and muttering under his breath making sure the he couldn't listen to what he had to say next, "I wrote it."

**XxX**

Shikamaru was making his way home after being dismissed, going over the events of the day. It had been unexpected to say the least. Years after his greatest failure as a shinobi he was now made a part of a team led by a living legend no less? While the composition of the team didn't inspire much confidence, the fact that it was happening at all said a lot.

Just what was going on in here? Nothing seemed to make sense.

"You don't mind if I join you do you?"He turned to the source of the voice to see their team leader joining him, his nose buried in his book.

"It's a free country." Shikamaru shrugged. "What's on your mind Kakashi-san?"

"A lot of things Nara-san. A lot of things," he replied, "But there's only one which concerns you at the moment. It's about time you made up your mind isn't it?"

"I'd just like to know a little more of what I'm getting into, before I make a decision." Shikamaru didn't bother denying him knowing what Kakashi was talking about.

"Shinobi don't have that luxury."

"It's a good thing that I'm not a shinobi then isn't it?"

"You can never stop being a shinobi Nara-san," Kakashi countered, "the day you graduated the academy your fate was sealed."

"I'm not wearing a head-band," he refuted, "that makes me a civilian and I never gave much thought to the philosophical bullshit you're spouting... its too troublesome."

Kakashi stopped and so did Shikamaru. Both men faced each other in a showdown of sorts.

"Why don't you come with me Nara-san?" He said, "There is something I'd like to show you."

Shikamaru weighed the jounin's words. This wasn't a command. Not even a concealed one. It was a genuine request. He realized what the man was doing. If it had been an order Shikamaru could have refused, probably would have too. But a request on the other hand played on his curiosity. So with that knowledge in hand he did what he knew he should do.

It was still his choice after all.

"Lead the way." He told the man.

**XxX**

Shikamaru stared at the pile of boxes in front of him, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi, wondering what this was about. They were currently at the Hokage Tower or to be precise at the mission desk. The place housed fifty chunins at any given time, working tirelessly to classify missions based on their importance and threat-level.

Kakashi had requested a work-station and rallied some instructions to one of them and was promptly assigned one. It wasn't long before the same chunin came bearing three boxes stacked on top of each other filled with files and dumped them on the table. The man could barely see over the stacks and the heavy thump the boxes made on the table was indicative of their rather impressive weight.

"What's this?" Shikamaru asked the jounin

"Every month, Konoha receives hundreds of missions between the ranks of B and C." Kakashi opened the lid of one of the boxes and studied the contents, "Statistically almost five percent of these missions are misclassified, something which should interest you given your history."

Shikamaru kept his mouth shut, despite the jounin's blunt manner of speaking and let him continue.

"The reasons for these errors range from clerical errors to misinformation by the clients themselves," he elaborated, "it won't be wrong to say, that because of these errors we have lost a lot of good shinobi on the field not to mention the strain it puts on our resources."

"Now we can't go on and penalize the clients, doesn't make us look good, we do what we can to make sure to minimize them at the mission desk, but we haven't had much success." Kakashi flicked through one of the files before replacing it and reaching for another one.

"Hokage-sama wants to work out a system where this doesn't remain a problem," he folded his arms and met Shikamaru's eyes, "which is where you come in."

"Why now?" Shikamaru questioned the jounin, "If it has been that big a problem, why hasn't anything been done yet?"

"We had to act sometime," Kakashi said, "what you've to understand is why this problem has flown under the radar. These low-ranked mission are taken up by low-ranked shinobi, manly genin or chunin."

"Who aren't all that important to the big picture." Shikamaru failed to keep the bitterness out of his voice, "Yeah I get it. Who cares if a few grunts lose their lives because of carelessness on the desk of a glorified clerk?"

"Regardless," Kakashi continued, ignoring his last comment, "The losses are something the Hokage feels could and should be avoided."

"So you want me to devise a system to weed out these potential death-traps," Shikamaru said following the thread of the conversation.

"Yes and no." Kakashi said, "Yes we want to filter them but we can't reject them either.."

"Doesn't make us look good with the clients," Shikamaru interrupted, "I get it."

"The missions which you filter out, will be then handed to a team which is equipped to handle them." Kakashi concluded.

"In this case I am guessing its Team7."

"That's right."

"Why Team 7 though?" Shikamaru asked the man.

"What do you mean?"

"You could have christened us Team 47 and achieved the same results." He said, "So, why Team 7?"

"If its under the direct authority of the Hokage, its less likely to be influenced by other forces." Kakashi shrugged, "Won't you agree Nara-san?"

"So let me get this straight," Shikamaru took a deep breath, that explanation on its face sounded good enough, but he was done taking things at face-value, he decided to press forward with a different concern though, "you want me to devise a way to sieve through mis-classified missions, to prevent unnecessary field casualties only for them to be taken by a team which consists of my acquaintances?"

He wanted to say friends, but Naruto was the closest thing he had to one in this team. While he cared little about Sakura and not a damn about Sasuke, still they were people he knew.

"That's exactly what I want you to do."

"How is one team expected to handle all these missions?" Shikamaru prodded, "If what you're saying is true, you will need more than one squad."

"I'm not saying its perfect." Kakashi admitted, "But this is just the start. If we succeed, we will expand."

"In that case," he sighed, "I am going to say no."

"I'd beg you to reconsider."

"There is nothing to reconsider." Shikamaru said, "I won't have another death on my conscience. So thanks Kakashi-san, but no thanks."

"On the contrary Nara-san." Kakashi said, freezing Shikamaru in his place as he had started to walk away, "If you walk away now, you'd be responsible for every death which results from your inaction."

"How dare you?" Shikamaru hissed venomously turning around to face him.

"I dare, because few are gifted with the ability to change things and even fewer are afforded the opportunity to do so. You've been given both but you're walking away because you're too much of a coward to take any responsibility," Kakashi refused to back down. "You want to make sure what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else? This is your chance."

Shikamaru had never been so angry in his life, he clenched his fist hard enough for his nails to break skin using the pain to control himself.

"I'm done here." Shikamaru said coldly before turning around and storming out of the tower leaving the chunin around baffled.

Kakashi watched the chunin walk away, thoroughly satisfied with the results of that encounter. What came next would be a less pleasant experience by far.

Reporting to the Hokage.

**XxX**

"So he walked away."

"He did."

"You knew he would."

"I was counting on it."

Tsunade Senju, rubbed her forehead with her fingers trying to abate the headache building up behind her temples. This man was the best she had and one of the only ones she could trust. She considered herself a fairly straightforward person, and Kakashi's games got too much sometimes even for her.

"Enlighten me Kakashi." She said bitingly, "How's that a good thing?"

Kakashi's posture was slouched and his manner lazy and languid. To a casual observer he wouldn't appear to be anything but relaxed. The absence of his favorite book however was a tell-tale sign of how seriously he was taking it.

"He wouldn't be worth the effort if he didn't. He even saw through things I wasn't expecting him to," Seeing the signs of danger on his boss' face he continued hurriedly, "regardless he will be back of that I'm sure."

"I gave you a long leash on this one Hatake," Tsunade stated, "even overlooked the fact that you broke protocol by telling a civilian the details of a sensitive operation, something which should have had you court-marshaled mind you, so you better be right about this, because if he doesn't it will be on your head."

"Trust me on this Hokage-sama. If this venture of yours is to succeed we'll need him." The man told her, "Moreover, knowing what he does now, he won't be able to walk away from this. No, I'm not worried about Shikamaru, the rest however I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?" The jounin's statement caught her completely off-guard.

"Well… how do I put this delicately?" Kakashi mused out loud, "The way Team-7 is right now, they are about as functional as a defective explosive tag."

**Location: ANBU HQ (Special Ops Division)**

**Time: 4:30 PM**

A heavily bandaged one armed and one-eyed man sat behind a rather imposing but simple desk. The room was dark without a window. The only source of light was a dim light bulb hanging overhead. Just how he preferred it. 'The Roots after all had no use for the sun', he mused sardonically while intently studying the files as one of his subordinates crouched in a gesture of supplication on one knee with his head bowed.

He had been in that position for over ten minutes now. The man however paid little attention to the plight of his subordinate. He had bigger worries at the moment.

Tsunade had made her move it seemed.

"Monitor the situation closely." He told his crouched minion, "And keep me abreast of any new developments."

"Hai, Danzo-sama." The man intoned as he got to his feet and dismissed himself.

**There you have it. All done. Hope it lived up to expectations. If not feel free to tear into it. And thanks for all the feedback for the previous chapters. They've been helpful. Signing off with the Character profile of Sakura.**

**Until next time**

**Character Profile**

**Sakura Haruno**

**Affiliation: Konoha**

**Registration ID: 0828**

**Rank: Chunin(Medic) **

**Teams: Team-15(formerly), Border Patrol Squad, Team-7 (Currently)**

**Bio: Sakura is the daughter of veteran shinobi Kizashi Haruno. Her potential was visible to her instructors from her Academy days itself. It was later validated when she graduated as the Kunoichi of the year. Showed great aptitude in the field of genjutsu, before finding her true calling as a Medic-nin. Believed to be one of the brightest of her generation, she caught the eye of Tsunade Senju herself. **


	4. Contemplations

**A/N:- Welcome to another offering of Road to Heaven. Another chapter which is rather heavy on character development. Would appreciate a little more feedback than the last one received. Anyway enjoy.**

**Contemplations**

"So now you're on the same team as Sasuke?" her blonde best friend stated dubiously, as if trying to process what she'd been told, "not to mention Shikamaru too?"

Sakura nodded smirking mischievously, sipping her drink enjoying the look on Ino's face, despite herself. Both of them had nurtured a crush on Sasuke during their Academy days along with half the girls in their batch. They even had developed something of rivalry over the Uchiha's affections. It had crushed them both when he hadn't ended up in their teams, and chose to take cold comfort in the fact that at least the other didn't get the proximity to the handsome boy they both craved.

Until now.

"So what's he like these days?" Ino leaned forward interest shining in her eyes.

"Taller, lethal," Sakura said, "and better looking than ever."

"C'mon," Ino whined, "more details girl."

It was Friday evening of the day of Sakura's first team meeting to be precise. She had backed out of Ino's planned girl's night out the other day citing the excuse of an early morning team meeting, (which eventually turned into a noon rendezvous thanks to the late arrival of their Jounin leader). This was her way of making it up to her.

The place was an outdoor café opened quite recently. The two kunoichi were seated on the roof which offered a pristine view of the village market. They chatted animatedly for a while, talking about their Academy days, old crushes (mainly Sasuke) and the life after in general. It was sobering how things had changed. There was a time when the very mention of Sasuke in their presence was like striking a match in a gas-filled room, now it was merely a part of their innocent if somewhat immature past.

"When was the last time you spoke to Shikamaru?" Sakura asked her.

"Only once after he got discharged," Ino sighed the cheerful mood of their meeting turning somewhat sour at the mention of her estranged teammate, "that wasn't a pleasant encounter and I didn't seek him out afterwards," Ino paused a little bit of uncertainty coloring her tone as she spoke again, "How's he?"

"Not bad all things considered," Sakura leaned back on her chair, "He's the same, lazy and languid guy we knew back in the day. By the way do you know anyone by the name of Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Can't say I do."

"Spiky blonde, blue-eyes, loud orange clothes," Sakura described him, "whiskers on face? If I didn't know better I'd say he was related to you."

"No Yamanaka would be caught dead in orange," Ino rolled her eyes, "anything you want to confess Sakura?"

It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes at the hidden implication in Ino's teasing voice. It was time to nip it in the bud, before it got hold of her.

"Nothing like that," Sakura said, "he's just another member assigned to my team."

"Wait," Realization dawned on Ino's pretty features and this new info distracted her from teasing her friend, "you're a five-member cell, how does that work?"

Sakura knew this was coming. While teams of five or more weren't unusual, they were only used temporarily for higher ranked missions or missions requiring greater manpower like border-patrols or merchant convoy escorts, but never as permanent cells.

"I don't know Ino," Sakura admitted before trying to get the conversation back on track, "but that wasn't what I was talking about."

"Then what were you talking about?"

"He was on the mission with Shikamaru," She said, "you know which one I am talking about."

To say that the aftermath of that mission had been devastating would be an understatement. Not only to Shikamaru, but personally to Sakura, and even more so to Ino. Frankly she could understand him falling off the grid afterwards. But they had recovered, Shikamaru obviously hadn't yet.

"Yeah I remember," Understanding dawned on her face followed immediately by anger, "but he wasn't kicked off the force was he?"

Sakura was a little taken aback by the venom in Ino's voice. She probably didn't appreciate the fact that Shikamaru was the only one who bore the consequences of that failed mission. Part of Sakura could understand her frustration but she didn't believe it was Naruto's fault and blaming him for not being punished was petty.

Except that probably wasn't true. He was stuck as a genin when most shinobi his age had at the very least attained the rank of chunin. But she kept those thoughts to herself, not really wanting to antagonize Ino over a guy she barely knew despite not agreeing with her.

"Well he's been reinstated," Sakura tried to draw Ino's attention to that fact, "so, there's that at least."

"I suppose you're right," Ino muttered gloomily.

The conversation soon drifted to more mundane topics after this. But Ino's mood had obviously been spoiled and it didn't take long for the two kunoichi to say goodbyes and go their different ways.

Sakura struggled with herself for a moment before making up her mind.

She followed the street which took her away from her home instead of towards it, fingering the piece of paper Inoichi had handed her during their last session. She had never been to that particular sector of the village, but from the looks of it, it was located in one of the better off neighborhoods, probably the merchant class. Little kids laughing hysterically as they chased each other down the streets lining quaint little houses and painted picket fences.

It was the pleasant kind of place where people bought homes and raised families.

She wondered why Inoichied her to come here? She stopped in front of the house she was supposed to go. It looked exactly the same as the rest in the colony. For a second she wondered if she was in the wrong place. A quick look at her watch told her that it was more than half-past five.

She was late.

She raised her hand to knock on the door to announce her presence. Her hand was only inches away from the door when it almost involuntarily clenched itself into a fist, following which it slowly dropped by her side. As she walked away only one thought resonated in her mind.

She wasn't ready.

Not yet.

**XxX**

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Naruto shouted as he hastily threw on a pair of black shorts and an old-white t-shirt he had outgrown a couple of years ago. The knocking on his apartment door was only getting more insistent and impatient.

He'd been in the shower for crying out loud, which was a little unusual for him. By now he should have been out of the apartment and at the mission desk taking his pick of D-ranks. But recent events had led to some rather welcome developments as starting next week he'd be part of a team and eligible for the higher tier of and better paying missions.

So for the first time since his Academy days he had actually allowed himself to sleep in, ordered his breakfast from the place down the street and was in the middle of a shower when his morning was disturbed by a series of rather loud knocks, which, if he didn't know better could be mistaken for the Konoha Military Police trying to apprehend a suspect by breaking down the door.

It was strange as he wasn't expecting any visitors. His bills were paid, mostly anyway and….. well no that was it. It was sad that the only people he dealt with any regularity in his life were people he owed money to.

Planting an irritated scowl on his face, he wrenched open the door.

"What?" he demanded, "in the name of kami… Miyuki?"

The girl was frozen in the motion of knocking when he had opened the door almost losing her balance due to the lack of resistance she had been expecting by the locked door, nearly stumbling into Naruto.

"Sempai," She gasped, regaining her balance and avoiding a rather embarrassing situation, "hey."

"Miyuki," Naruto repeated, recovering from seeing his rather unexpected visitor, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." She replied, "Is this a bad time?"

Naruto wasn't sure how to answer that. The timing wasn't so much bad as it was unexpected. He hadn't even gotten to towel himself properly. His shirt clung to his wet back and his hair was dripping water on the floor. The girl stood patiently, if a little nervously waiting for him to speak.

"No, this isn't a bad time," Naruto moved away and opened the door wider to allow the girl in after running through a mental checklist to make sure his house was presentable enough to receive a guest, "sorry about that."

Thank goodness he had cleaned his apartment just a couple of days ago so that now it resembled a neglected storage room instead of the toxic dump-site it used to barely a week ago. He directed her towards one of the only two chairs in his house while taking the couch.

"So," he said once both of them were seated, "how did you know where I lived?"

"Iruka sensei told me," the girl explained and Naruto swore inwardly. He had completely forgotten about the plans he'd made with the man. "I was hoping to run into you at the mission desk, but you weren't there so I asked him where I could find you and he gave me your address."

"Well," Naruto conceded as he got to his feet and went into his small kitchen to fetch some glasses, "you found me. Soda or juice? I'm afraid I'm out of tea," that was a lie, he never kept tea in his house, but she didn't need to know that.

"I'll have the juice."

"Apple or orange?"

"Orange please."

Naruto handed her a glass and poured some for himself, taking a generous sip, at least it hadn't gone bad yet, before sitting back again.

"Where's your team?" He inquired.

"Sensei gave us the weekend off after our last C-rank." Miyuki replied, nestling the drink between her hands.

Naruto raised an eyebrow trying to figure out why she was in his apartment, but couldn't bring himself to pose the question without sounding rude so he just waited. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze and gulped some juice as if trying to steel herself, which was when he realized how nervous the girl really was.

"Wouldyouwanttotrainwithme?"

"What?"

Miyuki's face reddened with embarrassment before she took a deep breath to calm herself. Naruto wasn't sure how much it helped, but her next words were coherent enough.

"Would you want to train with me?"

"Today?" he enquired.

Miyuki nodded enthusiastically. He considered it. He really didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day and it had been a long time since he had a training partner, and it wouldn't be a bad way to spend the day to be honest. He couldn't say no to that expectant face and he'd probably drive himself crazy trying to find something to do for the rest of the day anyway. At least this gave him something to do.

"Sure! Why not." He decided, "Just let me go get changed."

He leaned casually against the tree keeping a mental countdown in his head.

"3…2…1" He ducked and the place where his head had been a fraction of a second ago was peppered with kunai. Crouching low he tracked the blur running among the tree. He followed suit, batting away a few kunai sent his way to arrest his movement by his retreating adversary with one of his own. She tried to retreat deeper into the forest but he wasn't going to allow that and kept cutting her off. She soon realized that she didn't have a choice and now ran towards the open area of the ground, probably hoping that by getting their first she could gain some advantage.

Just as he knew she would.

He followed close on her heels keeping her in sights this time. She had just entered the ground and then in a surprising maneuver turned around and let go several kunai. His eyes widened, they were coming at him a lot faster than he anticipated. His body was peppered with kunai, a lot of them, right before he turned into a log, indicating a successful substitution.

She swore as she realized the trouble she was in and tried to move away but it was too late. He didn't give her a chance to recover and in a burst of speed he moved behind her. She still somehow managed to turn around to block his strike with her kunai. But the force behind the blow caught her off-guard and she lost her balance, a leg sweep to drop her followed by a choke-hold was all it took to incapacitate her completely. Her face turned an interesting shade of blue, but she managed to tap on his arm conveying her surrender, he let her loose and she immediately collapsed on all fours coughing and gasping.

"That's it, take it easy," he instructed her rubbing her back, "slow and shallow breaths."

Leaving her there to recover Naruto walked to one of the training posts where he had left some of his gear. Fishing out a couple of water bottles, he tossed one of them to the still panting girl, who caught it effortlessly.

"That was really good, you've gotten better," Naruto praised the girl between sips, "you nearly got me with your last trick."

"Really?" Miyuki gasped, still recovering from her exertions as he uncapped her own bottle, "You think so?"

Naruto had been impressed. She had managed to catch him off-guard, with her last trick involving kunai and ninja wire. It was a simple enough trick, she had anticipated him following her and had managed to use the ninja-wire between two training-posts as a makeshift-catapult. Only a quick substitution saved him from being shish-kebabed.

"Indeed," Naruto joined her on the ground next to her, "there's not much you did wrong there. You kept yourself hidden well, took your chances and tried to use the battlefield to your advantage, hell you might have won if your team had been with you."

Miyuki blushed with pleasure and embarrassment at his praise and took another big gulp of water to have something to do.

"How did you get this good?" She asked him.

"Frankly speaking, I'm not sure if I'm quite as good as you think I am," Naruto laughed at the reverent tone in the girl's voice, "but I suppose it has something to do with surviving against foes much better than I was, I wouldn't recommend it though. Plain old hard work is a much safer way to build-up competence."

"Can we do this again?" she asked tentatively, "I mean I learnt a lot today."

Naruto stayed silent for a while as he tried to process what he had just heard. This was certainly a first. Someone actually wanting his help because they thought he was better than them.

"It's okay if you can't," she began mistaking his silence for reluctance.

"No, no, it's not that," Naruto said hastily trying to clear the confusion, "it's just that you caught me by surprise with that request... _again,_" he muttered the last word under his breath.

"So?" Miyuki said, an expression of confusion mixed with hope on her face, "can we?"

"Yeah, sure why not?" Naruto smiled at her and the girl's expression brightened.

"So, how about Monday?" She spoke enthusiastically, "I'll be running D-ranks with my team the whole day but I'm quite sure I'll be free by evening."

"I'm afraid I can't on Monday." Naruto said, "I got assigned a team and we start on Monday."

"Oh…" She sounded disappointed before brightening up again as her mind caught up to what he had just said, "Oh, congratulations on that."

Naruto laughed patting her head, before getting up and dusting his pants. He considered something for a while. The day didn't have to end just because they were done training. Moreover he hadn't even gotten the chance to celebrate his good fortune yet and Miyuki was good if a little awkward company.

"Come on." He offered the still seated girl his hand, "Lunch is on me."

The girl took the proffered hand gratefully and pulled herself to her feet.

"You're really good with those weapons," Naruto said as both of them walked out of the training ground.

"Thanks," The girl said proudly, "I had the highest marks in the Academy when it came to accuracy and ranged weapons."

"Hmmm…" Naruto muttered thoughtfully an idea planting itself in his head, "You know I just might know someone who can help you."

**XxX**

Naruto made his way to the best weapon retailer in Konoha. He had just said his farewell to Miyuki and there was just one last thing he needed to do before he wrapped up his day. It was something he was planning on getting done tomorrow, but as he was out he thought it best to get it out of the way.

It wasn't an old establishment by any means. Naruto still remembered the day it had opened eight years ago. Back then it had been a little more than a shack. The first owner had been a civilian and understood little of the shinobi needs. Needless to say it wasn't long before he went out of business sold the place and migrated out of Konoha. For a few months the place had no takers. There was even talk of it being taken over by the establishment.

But before any of that could happen an ex-shinobi took it upon himself to overturn the fortunes of the place. The man had been forced to retire early due to a mission gone bad which resulted in loss of sixty percent functionality in one of his legs. Thankfully he had his skills as a blacksmith to fall back on.

So with his severance package he received along with a few loans he bought the place and turned it into a weapons/smithy workshop.

There were now two sections to the shop. The front section served as the shop, while the space at the back was where the smithy was. Even as he entered the shop he could hear the heaving of bellows and the sounds of metal striking metal.

He was the only occupant of the shop at the moment as even the usual person minding the shop was missing. He was sure that won't last though. The bell which announced his arrival as he opened the door would ensure that.

He took the chance to browse through some of the wares. A particularly vicious looking chokuto caught his eye.

It was a beautiful thing. A hand and a half in length, it looked delightfully deadly. He walked closer to examine it more closely and was about to remove it from its stand before a dry and condescending voice stopped him.

"You can't afford that."

"And how would you know?"

"Because it costs more than the building your lousy apartment is in."

"Gee… way to be a buzzkill Tenten," Naruto turned around to be greeted with the scowling face of a girl dressed in a black trousers and a shirt whose original color was now a mystery, her hair tied back by a yellow bandanna. The scowl on her face was more a result of working in heat of the smithy rather than her displeasure at seeing him.

Or at least he hoped so.

"Someone's got to keep your dreamy ass grounded before you break something that will force you into the streets," she said, "If you break it you bought it."

"If I do manage to break it, then it probably isn't worth buying now is it?" Naruto retorted.

Tenten just shrugged.

Tenten was someone Naruto had known almost as long as he could remember. She was a year older than him. Both of them were orphans who had been housed in the same orphanage. They had even struck up something of a friendship back in the day despite the matron's active attempts to dissuade her. But like most good things in his life this didn't last either. Before long she was adopted and they lost contact.

Naruto was heartbroken as he never even got to say goodbye to her. A few years later they did meet in the Academy, but by then things had changed. She had her own friends and parents and couldn't obviously be bothered with a kid she had sort of known as an orphan, a relatively more tragic period in her life.

He didn't blame her.

"So what can I do for you?" her voice turning professional now that the fun and games were done. Naruto emptied the bag he carried with him on the counter, creating a huge racket as damaged kunai and shuriken littered on it. Shuriken and kunai weren't exactly expensive but it was always cheaper to get them repaired than to buy new ones.

"You'll get them by the day after tomorrow."Tenten said as she examined some of them.

"Can't you get them done sooner?"

"Can't do," Tenten picked up a particularly damaged shuriken missing two of its teeth before tossing it into the recyclable waste dump without giving it a second look, "Dad's busy with a commission and I got my own missions."

Naruto sighed in disappointment. It looked like he'd have to buy the stuff this time around.

"So, should I get your usual order?" Tenten inquired after going through his inventory.

"I wish," Naruto winced as he contemplated the dent this was going to make on his savings. Hopefully the improved pay would help things. "I need thrice my usual order."

"Not planning on declaring war on Konoha are you?" She deadpanned.

"Haha." Naruto laughed dryly, "You're funny but no. I've been assigned a team and going to take our first mission on Monday."

Tenten whistled appreciatively as she started on his order, piling on kunai and shuriken along with ninja-wire and other knick-knacks.

"So that would be three thousand two hundred and fifty three ryo," she said tallying up the cost.

"C'mon there has to be some sort of discount on bulk purchases," Naruto protested at the price. The price was perfectly reasonable but it wouldn't be a sale if he didn't at least try to haggle.

Tenten wasn't impressed, she was used to his antics by now, being one of their regular customers and didn't even break her stride.

"I'll knock off the three ryo off the top to make it all even." She offered, "How about that?"

Naruto grumbled theatrically as he counted the money and handed it to the girl, who didn't even bother counting it before throwing it inside the cash register.

"Anything else?" She said a little puzzled when Naruto still hadn't moved out of the shop.

"There is actually," Naruto shuffled on his feet uncomfortably knowing what he was about to ask next might not exactly be to the girls' taste. "Remember the favor you said you owed me?"

"Yeah?" Tenten said just the tiniest hint of dread entering her voice.

"Well I want to cash it in."

Tenten folded her arms expectantly as Naruto struggled with the words to best put forward his request.

"There is this genin, Miyuki," He said, "she is something of a long-range specialist, kinda like you."

"No," Tenten said flatly.

"No?" Naruto was nonplussed, "you didn't even listen to what I have to say."

"You want to impress a girl you're on your own buster," she said, "no way in hell am I getting involved in this."

"First of all she is just twelve….so eugh!" Naruto deadpanned, "secondly how the hell did you even make that leap? You know what, don't answer that. I'm not trying to date her, I was just hoping you could give her some pointers."

Naruto made sure she couldn't interrupt her again as he laid down the entire thing in front of her.

"You want me to help a rookie? That's almost worse," Tenten turned around looking ready to escort him out of the shop, physically if she had to, "yeah sorry but I don't have the time to baby-sit, I did enough of that when I was a genin thank you."

"You owe me," Naruto said pre-empting her and putting some distance between them before she could reach him.

"Naruto?" She gave an exasperated sigh, "C'mon I'm sure we can work something else out, and what's in it for you anyway?"

"Are you going to do it or not?" Naruto stared down the girl, not budging. The two teens glaring at each other, neither willing to back down.

"Fine," She finally conceded, "I'll do it. But we are even after this. Who's her Jounin sensei?"

Five minutes later Naruto was walking out of the shop, content with how his day had gone.

"She better be worth it Uzumaki." Tenten got a pot-shot at him before he walked out of hearing range. Naruto merely chuckled as he made his way home.

**XxX**

Shikamaru knocked three times on the door of the apartment and waited for the occupant to open it. It was a nice neighborhood. Not too affluent but not poor either, if a little congested. He hadn't been here in three weeks and probably wouldn't have come today either, but recent events sort of demanded it. He felt a little bad about that. Just another person in his life he felt he was failing. Nothing new in that. But that was the problem with having set low standards for yourself, you tend to disappoint people who keep expecting better from you.

For a long time he had been okay with that too.

He didn't get a chance to immerse himself too deeply in his misery as the door opened to reveal a pretty if tired looking woman dark-haired, crimson-eyed woman, dressed in a red apron.

"Shikamaru," A smile broke on her face at seeing her visitor, "I was sure you'd forgotten the way to my home."

"Kurenai-sensei," he greeted the woman as she allowed him to walk in. The house was in a state of ordered chaos, a sign of what the day promised to be. A cry of recognition dragged his attention to a toddler on the floor accompanied by a myriad of stuffed toys. The baby gave him a toothy grin and waved her arms to get his attention and Shikamaru couldn't help returning her smile with one of his own, before crouching down and picking her up.

The baby squealed with joy as he cajoled her and made those baby noises adults did when confronted with a cute baby.

"You should come by more often you know," Kurenai smirked at the camaraderie her daughter shared with the boy, "She misses you."

"I'll try," Shikamaru said non-commitally. Kurenai didn't call him out on it, one of the reasons he found her company a lot more bearable than almost anyone else, she simply watched contentedly as Shikamaru bounced her baby on his lap.

"Would you like some tea?" Kurenai moved to the kitchen and set to work.

"Sure," Shikamaru managed, as he kept the toddler entertained who was now pulling at his cheeks with surprising strength.

Kurenai Yuuhi had been in a relationship with his late sensei. Not someone he had known personally and not how he had known her. At least not at the beginning anyway. To him she had been the lady who had been assigned a team consisting of people from his batch. Obviously competent to have reached the rank of jounin.

It was Ino who had clued him onto that little fact about her being Asuma's lover. She never missed an opportunity to tease Asuma about it, whenever she got the chance. He never cared much. So Asuma had a girlfriend. Big deal. He was an adult and if he thought he could pursue a successful semi-secretive relationship with a co-worker... well more power to him.

To him the situation was more troublesome than it was worth, but hey it wasn't his problem. His first personal interaction with her had been immediately after he had been discharged. She had tracked him down to his cloud-watching site. He had braced himself to receive an ass-chewing.

To his great surprise, she just told him that it wasn't his fault and she didn't blame him. Till that moment he hadn't even realized how badly he needed to hear those words, how badly he needed absolution from someone, from anyone. To his shame he had broken down in tears and she held him as he wept on her shoulder.

But even after that moment of bonding what they had could barely be called a casual acquaintance. Part of the reason had been his own decision to break off ties from his old life the other had been her own job and responsibilities as a shinobi serving Konoha.

No, that needed the fuel of another tragedy. He remembered that day like it was yesterday, even though it had been almost a year since. He was in his regular hangout spot at the park, hustling people at shogi, when a chunin beckoned him. He had tried to explain that what he was doing wasn't illegal, but the man had brushed aside his explanations and gave him the dreaded news.

Sarutobi Asuma had been killed in action. He felt as if someone had pulled the very ground from his feet. He barely paid attention to the rest of the details. How the team he had been leading was ambushed and how he sacrificed his life to make sure the rest of his team got away.

Despite his shock he managed to keep his wits about himself to pose a rather pertinent question. Why was he being told this? He wasn't family and he was no longer Asuma's subordinate. The man had explained that Asuma's final request was for him to break the news to Kurenai.

He had honored his sensei's last wish. This time it was his turn to hold the woman as she cried on his shoulder. His last few meetings with Asuma made sense. Kurenai had been pregnant with Asuma's child. In his own way during their shogi games Asuma had asked him to take care of his heir, his legacy. Back then he had blown away his sensei's concerns.

Had Asuma foreseen his own death? It wasn't unusual for shinobi to be pragmatic about their survival. Still Shikamaru had never believed Asuma could perish. He had always seemed so invincible. The man had survived a war and a violent and turbulent tenure as a ninja guardsman to the Daimyo, only to be martyred at a lousy B-ranked.

He hated irony.

"So, how are things?" She handed the aromatic beverage as he maneuvered the baby to his non-dominant side to hold the offered cup.

"I've some news." Shikamaru said, "I was offered reinstatement."

Kurenai froze mid-sip, before putting the cup back on the table.

"Way to soften me up kid," the sarcasm of the words was ruined by the barely concealed excitement in her voice.

"I don't know how a preamble could have helped," Shikamaru shrugged.

"Wow," she muttered, "I guess congratulations are in order," she smiled at him, "I knew they would one day realize how much they needed you, but I guess you're feeling pretty conflicted about this."

"Was I that obvious?" he asked, Kurenai had a way of cutting through the bullshit without being blunt. It was an impressive skill.

"You weren't," she assured him, "but I've still retained my skills kiddo, rusty though they might be."

"I don't know what to do."

She leaned forward to place a hand on his knee. Despite being uncomfortable at the touch of the beautiful woman he held his composure.

"If this isn't what you want, then don't do it," she said forcing him to look her in the eyes, "but don't let your misplaced guilt hold you back."

Shikamaru broke away from her gaze. They had been over it way too many times before and he didn't want to repeat it.

"Have you thought about reinstatement?" he asked her trying to change the subject.

"I may have to," Kurenai tickled her daughter under the chin getting a delighted squeal from her, "But Kaya-chan is still so young. Maybe in another year when she is old enough. Asuma's and my savings are holding us up for now."

Shikamaru nodded. He had offered her financial help when she had taken her maternity leave, but she had flatly refused. He didn't bother trying to convince her. It would have been too troublesome. So he found alternative ways to help her.

What she believed was Asuma's trust fund was actually an account set-up by Shikamaru with the help of a few well-wishers, where he made regular deposits of his winnings.

The baby's cries broke him out of his thoughts.

"She must be hungry," she took the baby from Shikamaru's arms, "she's always hungry."

"I guess that's my cue to leave," he said getting to his feet.

"But you just got here," Kurenai protested over her daughter's wails, "if you wait just a bit longer you might even meet Ino-chan."

"I've got somewhere to be," he said, his inclination to get out of the apartment greater than before now that he knew his ex-teammate was going to be there soon, "thanks for the tea... and the talk."

"Shikamaru wait!" She called out to him and he stopped at the threshold of her apartment, "Asuma would be proud of you no matter what you decide to do. I hope you know that."

Giving her one last nod of acknowledgement Shikamaru walked away from the woman who was his only link to his sensei and her crying baby.

**XxX**

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were chirping, the meadow was lush, green and soft beneath him, somewhere in the distance he could hear the kids playing, their screams of joy and laughter carrying through to him.

Despite all that….. not a single speck of cloud in the entire sky.

"You know I have no idea what you see in this," came the dry voice of his only companion.

"No, one told you to stick around," Shikamaru retorted, "I certainly haven't tied you here have I?"

The man remained silent, and the words that went unsaid couldn't have been louder if they had been screamed through a loudspeaker.

Yes, he was what kept him tied there.

"Don't you have a job or something?" he said trying to cover-up his slip.

"I've taken the day-off," came the reply, "they can survive one day without me."

"I'm surprised the Hokage allowed you a leave," Shikamaru remarked, "from what I've heard she is a slave-driver."

"Is that why you haven't filed your papers yet?"

"…"

Shikamaru cursed himself inwardly. Despite the joking tone the question in those words were barely hidden. He had walked straight into that one. He had known this would come up. The man was rather highly placed in the bureaucratic setup of Konoha. There really wasn't much that was kept from him. For all his intellect and foresight he still managed to get himself maneuvered into the pit he had avoided for the better part of forty-five minutes. He could choose to be passive-aggressive about it, but that really wasn't his style.

"Maybe I don't want to file my papers," he said, "maybe I'm done with this life. Ever considered that?"

"Maybe," The man sighed, "That's a dangerous word kiddo. Its neither here nor there."

"So, what would you have me do?" he said mockingly, "I should just walk in, like nothing happened, get a new start. Is that what I should do?"

Shikamaru had never been so frustrated in his life. He was sure he was done being a shinobi, done with his old life, old friends, everything which defined him before that fateful day. Now he was told he could start again, right where he left off. He wasn't sure how he felt about that and to make matters worse there wasn't even the calming influence of clouds to see him through.

"Hell if I know, I'm not telling you to do anything," the man replied in answer to his query, "all I know is that you might regret going back and you might regret not going back."

"So?" he prodded.

"I guess it all comes down to which regret you would rather live with kid," Came the answer, "That's all I got for you."

"That's… depressing."

"It is what it is."

Shikamaru contemplated those words. Those words could hardly be called his guide to path-breaking revelations. He hadn't suddenly turned into a new man, or the proverbial butterfly spreading its wings for the first time after having spent its life as an ugly larva.

He still had his doubts. He would always have them.

To his surprise however he realized that he was okay with that... for now anyway.

He got to his feet, dusting his trousers.

"Leaving already?" The man exclaimed, a little surprised by his abrupt actions.

"Yeah," he said, "It's a lousy day for cloud-watching."

"That it is," his companion agreed, getting to his feet himself, "So, what're you going to do now?"

"What do you think old man?" He said, feeling a little more resolute than he did a few minutes ago. "I'm gonna go and choose the regrets I will have to live with."

Their eyes met and a sort of understanding passed between them and he clapped him once on the shoulder with paternal pride. Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the gesture, but allowed it.

"And come see your mother will you?" he told him, "She misses you."

"You're just saying that because right now you're the only recipient of her nagging aren't you?"

"Troublesome brat."

The next day, the people in and around the Hokage tower were greeted by the sight of Nara Shikamaru dressed in his Konoha fatigues under his chunin vest making his way to the mission desk.

He paused before crossing the threshold of the entrance, and gave one last look to the cloud-riddled sky before walking in.

"Chunin Nara Shikamaru, reporting for duty." He stated to the official at the desk, submitting his papers.

Five minutes later he was led to the work-station Kakashi had led him to barely thirty six hours ago along with stacks of mission files.

"That's all?" he asked the chunin who helped him carry the boxes to his table.

"Yeah," the man said, "that's it. You're gonna need a lot of coffee if you hope to get through all those in one day."

"Thanks for the tip," he muttered under his breath as he ripped open the first box. He would have to work fast. He only had twenty-four hours to pick a mission for Team-7 after all.

**A/N: I had hoped to get to the mission in this chapter, but this seemed like the place to end it. The Shikamaru scene wasn't in my mind when I started writing this, looking back though I am glad I wrote it. See what you make of it. Until next time.**

**Character Profile**

**Naruto Uzumaki**

**Affiliation: Konoha**

**Registeration ID: 0641**

**Rank: Genin, Konoha Ground Trooper**

**Teams: Team 11*(Formerly), Team 7(current)**

**Bio: Naruto Uzumaki didn't have the most auspicious start to his shinobi career despite having graduated early at the age of ten on his second attempt, *only to fail his jounin's test, on whose recommendation he was assigned to the Konoha Ground Troops. A position which severely limited his avenues to go far in his career as a shinobi. Not to be deterred by these early setbacks he worked hard to improve his limited skills before catching the eye of Jiraiya the Sannin at the age of twelve who then proceeded to take him as an apprentice. He spent the next few years wandering the elemental nations with his master, honing his skills and being taught the art of counter-intelligence and spycraft. This wasn't to last as Jiraiya himself perished during this time.**

**His deceptively low-rank coupled with his somewhat eccentric and goofy mannerisms has led many to underestimate the blonde shinobi leading him to prevail against unlikely odds and seemingly superior opponents.**


	5. The Missing Damsel-I

**A/N:- I was wondering what kind of route I want the story to take. It has plagued me for a while now, and eventually this was the result. The first mission can be classified under the mystery category with a classic whodunit set-up. I'm still a little iffy about it but see if it holds your interest.**

**The Missing Damsel-I**

Sakura felt like she was a genin all over again, back in a four-member cell, led by a jounin sensei. She made her way to the mission desk like she had been told to, not quite sure where she'd meet the rest of the team. The mission desk by itself encompassed the entire ground floor of the Hokage Tower, with countless shinobi active in and around the place. Whether it was the genin lining up for their daily D-ranks or the Jounin submitting their reports after a grueling A-rank, it was the hub for all official shinobi activity. To say that it was the busiest place in Konoha would be no exaggeration.

She was not looking forward to the task of searching for her team in this chaos.

Fortunately she didn't have to. Before long the rather noticeable figure of the orange clad blonde. Naruto Uzumaki was hailing her and waving his arms rather wildly to gain her attention. Smiling partly in amusement at his antics and partly in relief at having avoided the rather tedious task she made her way towards him. As she got closer she realized he wasn't alone and she was in fact the last one to get there.

Kakashi and Sasuke were standing side-by side, the older man with one hand in his pocket and another holding up the paperback he was so fond of. Sasuke with his trademark frown on face and crossed arms, was a picture of hostility. But Naruto more than made up for any lack of enthusiasm from the other two as he grinned at her.

"Hey Sakura-chan," he greeted her brightly.

"Good morning Naruto," she returned his greeting. Normally Sakura would have been offended at anyone using such an informal honorific so soon after their first meeting, but it didn't seem like a big deal coming from him. She greeted the Sasuke and Kakashi taking her cue from Naruto, getting a humph and grunt in return. It took some effort to avoid rolling her eyes.

"I'm not late am I?" she asked them knowing full well she wasn't. They were supposed to meet at 8 AM and her watch claimed she was a couple of minutes early.

"Not at all Sakura," Kakashi answered without taking his eyes from his book, "not at all."

"We're waiting for Shikamaru aren't we?" she guessed.

"Actually Shikamaru has been waiting for you," came the familiar voice of her one time classmate from behind her, catching her by surprise. She turned around and opened her mouth to speak but was beaten to it by the lazy genius.

"Let's get going shall we?" he grumbled, "I've spent the better part of the last twenty four hours hunched behind a desk sustaining myself on coffee and crackers and no sleep whatsoever, so whatever you have to say can wait."

"Where're we going?" Sasuke asked him, his manner projecting his annoyance at being told what to do by the Nara.

"To get some breakfast," came the reply.

Sakura had to admit she was impressed at the rate Shikamaru was inhaling onigiri after onigiri with careless abandon. The fact that they came from the cafeteria of the Hokage Tower which is notorious for churning out food as tasteless as their field rations made the feat even more impressive.

During all the time she had known him she had never expected him to be capable of such activity. So much so even Naruto had to comment on it.

"Slow down man," He said watching Shikamaru with some fascination, "you're gonna choke yourself if you don't."

Shikamaru paused and raised an eyebrow at the blonde shinobi, taking the time to gulp down his food before retorting, "Now you know how I felt when I had to watch you going on your ramen binge."

"We're wasting time here." Sasuke said impatiently, "I thought we were supposed to.."

He paused mid-sentence to catch a scroll thrown at his face courtesy Shikamaru, who then proceeded to go to work on his rolls.

"The next person to throw things at my face, loses their throwing arm" he said threateningly ,directing his glare at Shikamaru, "and what the hell is this supposed to be?"

"A marriage proposal from one of your fan-girls," Shikamaru washed down the roll with some tea before speaking again, "gee what do you think Uchiha? That's your mission."

Sakura was surprised to see Shikamaru so…. adversarial. He had always been one of those guys who preferred to take the path of least resistance. To see him actively goading Sasuke like that was completely out of character for him. She supposed it had something to do with the lack of sleep that was evident from the bags under his eyes and his general even more than usual exhausted demeanor.

Sasuke opened his mouth to fire off a retort of his own but was stopped by Kakashi who plucked the scroll from his hands and opened it to study the contents.

"You got here early to take our mission?" Sakura asked him, mystified at his enthusiasm for the new job.

"No," he refuted her, "I chose it."

"I don't understand."

"Kakashi will explain," he shrugged, returning to his usual languid self now that he had eaten his fill and sagged in his chair, nibbling at his last rice ball.

"So what're we doing?" Naruto asked the jounin trying to peek into the scroll, "rescuing a princess? Protecting a warlord? Or is it taking down a bandit camp?"

"Pack enough clothes and rations a couple of weeks worth, and weapons suited for a B-ranked mission," Kakashi ordered them ignoring Naruto, evidently done reading the mission scroll, "Meet me at the gates in fifteen."

"But.." Naruto was about to protest but something in the jounin's demeanor made him change his mind and he just shrugged before leaving. Sakura and Sasuke soon followed his example, leaving Kakashi and Shikamaru the only ones there.

"What?" Shikamaru chose to break the silence that had encompassed them.

"Nothing," Kakashi replied, "I just didn't expect to see you there."

Shikamaru glared at the older man skeptically before snorting in disbelief, "Really now? Guess what? I expected you to be a better liar Kakashi."

"Well," The jounin admitted, "in my defence I was sure you'd require more convincing at the very least."

"How'd you have convinced me?"

"I'll keep that to myself. You never know when I might need it," Kakashi waved his question away. "right, so how does this mission fit the parameters that had been set for benchmarking Team 7 missions?"

Shikamaru glared at the jounin before beginning, "Mei Arisawa is the daughter from a fairly well to do merchant family who went missing from her home in the town of Sumer, a few miles from the Kusa border," Shikamaru explained getting a nod from Kakashi in return, "the mission on the paper is simple enough. Finding and retrieving the girl."

"But..." Kakashi prompted.

"She wasn't the first one."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi leaned forward, his interest spiking, "if there were more people who had been reported missing it wouldn't have escaped our attention."

"Well the people who went missing didn't go missing while they were in the land of fire." Shikamaru said, "I did some research. Whoever is behind these disappearances has only been targeting people when they're outside the Fire Nation."

"Merchants and messengers." Kakashi deduced.

"Exactly," Shikamaru said animatedly, exhaustion momentarily forgotten, "its actually really clever. The Konoha-Kusa border has always been relatively porous to allow greater convenience for trade and commerce. But lack of cooperation between the nations has allowed these people to carry on unchallenged."

"So Konoha hasn't been able to pursue this because we don't have jurisdiction in Kusa and Kusa has had no reason to pursue this as they weren't their citizens." Kakashi commented, "clever, but what does that have to do with the missing girl?"

"I think if the girl was kidnapped, she'd have been taken in that route," Shikamaru said, "it might look like speculation but this still requires looking into doesn't it?"

"Hmmm. Indeed it does." Kakashi said amiably, "Good work Shikamaru."

"You know when Naruto came to me offering my reinstatement he said he wanted me in the team so that I could watch his back," Shikamaru said.

"And now you're choosing missions for him, which are clearly more dangerous than they look on the surface," Kakashi finished his thought before he could, "not quite what you had in mind when you accepted reinstatement did you?"

"Indeed," Shikamaru agreed, "I guess I'm hoping I don't regret agreeing to do this."

"Have a little faith in me Nara-san," the jounin assured him, but probably realized he wasn't doing a very good job of it continued, "if not me than how about some in your comrades."

"Trust is a commodity which has to be earned Hatake-san," Shikamaru stood up to leave, "what I'm doing is taking a leap of faith into the unknown."

"I'll be in touch." Kakashi grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and slipped something in the pocket of his vest, "Get some sleep."

He felt the man's presence vanish from the vicinity without the need to turn around for visual confirmation. 'What a show off!' He thought to himself. Yawning widely he trudged back slowly to his apartment where his comfortable bed beckoned.

**XxX**

As they left the gates of the village, Sakura's mind couldn't help but flashback to all the lessons she'd learned about Konoha's history during her stint at the academy.

The dense forests surrounding Konoha served multiple purposes. The term 'hidden village' wasn't just a prop used to describe Konoha. They concealed its location from unfriendly forces. The wildlife itself acted as their primary defense. Heaven have pity on the poor soul who runs afoul of the packs of wolves or the tigers that prowled these lands. Though that would be a kinder fate to what would happen if they found themselves in the lair of the gigantic spider.

It is still believed that if one went deep enough in the woods they'd find the remnants of Iwa's forces who'd tried to invade Konoha during the Third Shinobi War.

In addition to that it also housed a variety of flora and fauna which by themselves provided for other necessities including but not limited to firewood and herbs for medicinal purposes. Part of the reason Konoha had a thriving pharmaceutical industry was because of the produce derived from these forests. The animals residing here were some of the most vicious and dangerous to be found anywhere in the elemental nations. In short these forests were as much a part of the village's identity as the shinobi themselves.

If there was one thing more interesting than the forests it would be the tale of their origin. Legend had it that the Shodai Hokage himself had grown it with his kekkei genkai, The Mokuton. If it was true it couldn't be confirmed as no one in living memory had seen it done. But then everything the man had achieved felt like a myth.

Mortals weren't supposed to manage those feats. Only Gods could.

The forests also served another practical purpose. That was as a means of transportation.

The shinobi way of transportation that is. It would take days for non-chakra adepts to traverse them on foot, if they survived the things residing in the forest that is. It wouldn't take more than a few hours for Team 7 to leave the borders of their homeland while running through the trees.

A rather practical application of a chakra control exercise best known as tree-walking. She'd been travelling through these woods for years now, and yet her awe at its majesty had only increased with time.

They were using a staggered formation for travelling. Kakashi was out front, immediately followed by Sasuke a little to his left, she was next and positioned to his right and the genin took their rear-guard.

"Look sharp." Kakashi called out, breaking out Sakura from her veering thoughts, "we are here."

They had arrived at the final checkpoint manned by Konoha. A chunin came to greet them from the shack which served as the last bastion of sorts. Kakashi broke formation to speak to him and handed the man the official mission orders approved by the seal of the Hokage and made an entry into the log, denoting their time of arrival and departure from there.

It was a system made to keep abreast of their progress while they were still within Konoha borders. Beyond this point they were on their own and out of village jurisdiction. The formalities only took five minutes, but for some reason Sasuke seemed to have gotten a little restless. It wasn't obvious from his manner but the boy definitely wasn't comfortable. A slight tightening of his frown, a little more stiffening of his posture, things which you'd usually not give a second thought to, even if you picked up on it.

However it caught Sakura's eye and she filed it away in her head. Soon they were on their way again, now officially in the Fire Country. Most believed that Konoha was under the direct control of the Daimyo.

That wasn't strictly true.

The Daimyo was Konoha's employer and the biggest benefactor, it was true enough, but he had little say in the internal matters of the village. Konoha wasn't governed by Fire Country and was fairly independent on its own.

Most would question the wisdom of having a sovereign military organization within their borders outside the State's control, but it was something that had been worked for close to a hundred years now. The village provided the State with readily available shock troops among other things and the State provided sponsorship and an active clientele for the village to sustain itself. It was a mutually beneficial partnership.

Not to say there weren't complications here and there. There were bound to be. But over the years several measures had been taken to ensure neither side ever felt the need to betray the other. The partnership had survived mainly due to the fact that they had greater problems in other nations, which housed ninja villages of their own.

"Well it's going to be the road now," Kakashi addressed them again, "this route is a relatively busy one, travelling the way we do, we should reach our destination in three days."

"Why're we taking this mission again?" Sasuke scowled heavily, "this seems like a job for the law enforcement, not shinobi. The girl will probably be dead by the time we get there if she isn't already."

"You don't know that," Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's callous tone.

On the way Kakashi had explained the mission to the three of them, and Sasuke hadn't been impressed.

"Don't I?" Sasuke said, "this mission document states that the girl went missing two weeks ago. There have been no demands for ransom nor any news regarding her whereabouts. Which leaves only two possibilities, either she is dead or she's been sold as a slave."

Sakura had to admit that Sasuke had a point. Not one she particularly liked and she wasn't a fan of the way he had put it, but it was a valid one. To her surprise however Naruto had a counter.

"If she hasn't been kidnapped for ransom or been the victim of a violent crime," Naruto said calmly but his eyes had attained an uncharacteristically contemplative look, not shining with their usual mirth, "then going by your theory then she might be a victim of human trafficking. Which means she is still alive."

"If that's the case then she probably has been moved to different nation and we have already lost her," Sasuke countered.

"Boys, boys." Kakashi called out interrupting their by-play, "as riveting as your debate is, I'm afraid you're getting a little ahead of yourself. We won't know what the situation is till we get there, so lets focus on that first shall we?"

"This is a waste of time," Sasuke muttered under his breath as he reverted to his natural stoic self.

That brought all conversation to a halt for the moment. When night fell, they set-up camp by the road deeper into the woods lining them. They could have checked into one of the hotels but B-ranked missions didn't cover for that.

So, camping it was.

Kakashi took the first watch as he was the senior-most member of the team. Even though the chances of being ambushed were slim to none, it was a well-established practice which had served them well. It kept them sharp and more prepared them for the time when they wouldn't have that luxury.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably in her sleeping bag. Try as she might sleep still evaded her. A few feet away from her she could hear Naruto's gentle snores and Sasuke's deep breaths as they slumbered peacefully. This was her first field mission in months and she couldn't suppress her anxiety. Her mind kept wandering to her last one. Things had gone bad so fast, it still left her gasping when she thought about it.

Sakura considered herself to be a good shinobi. She was talented, relatively level-headed and hard-working. If there had been a pre-requisite form to fill before being chosen as one, she was sure she would tick most if not all the boxes.

Her last mission however had brought her face to face with a reality she had been warned about but never expected to encounter. Like the frog in the well that was under the delusion that the well was all that encompassed the whole world she too had thought herself to be insulated to the dangers the world held.

She was a good shinobi, of that she had no doubt. But so were her comrades and they were now dead, not even having been afforded the courtesy of being cremated in their homeland. Her opponent outclassed her as much as a predator outclassed its prey. The prey no matter how good it was, at the end of the day was just that… a prey.

It had shaken her confidence. How was she supposed to survive against the odds that now seemed stacked against her? She wasn't afraid of dying. She didn't think so. What she was afraid of, was being confronted with the knowledge that she probably never had a chance. She was just another grunt waiting to meet her demise at the hands of a superior opponent.

Grunting in frustration she unzipped her sleeping bag and got herself out.

"Can't sleep?" Came the voice of her commander. He was facing the fire they had lighted to keep themselves warm and the wildlife away, casually leafing through his book, using the fire's glow as the source of light to aid his reading.

"No, I can't seem to." Sakura sat up, reaching for a rubber band on her hand proceeded to tie up her hair.

"Are we going to have a problem Sakura-san?" Kakashi said, without looking away from his book.

Sakura froze at the jounin's query. That question didn't bode well for her. Steeling herself she faced the him.

"I'm afraid I don't understand Hatake-san."

"Let me elaborate then," Kakashi nonchalantly turned a page. Sakura glared at the man with annoyance at his seemingly uncaring demeanor, "I couldn't help notice that you've been preoccupied ever since we've left Konoha, maybe even distracted."

Sakura clenched her jaw, but responded nevertheless, "It's nothing of concern."

"For your sake I'd hope so Sakura-san." He said eyes still glued to his book, "Now usually I wouldn't care. Your problems are your own and you're free to deal with them anyway you want, " he snapped his book shut and turned his gaze on her, "but the moment you bring them to the field you become a liability to your team and to your village."

The words were spoken casually and yet Sakura could feel herself breaking into a cold sweat of dread.

"Now, if you were a rookie genin and I your jounin sensei you'd have gotten a lot of leeway." He continued holding his gaze steady and unblinking. His profile against the fire gave him a rather intimidating visage, "unfortunately for youthat isn't the case. I am your commander and you're a soldier under my command. Whatever issues you have, you leave them back home or wherever you can I don't care. On the field I expect absolute commitment to the job. If I can't have that you're of no use to me."

Sakura sat there frozen unable to look away from Kakashi. In the flickering light of the bonfire he cut a very intimidating figure indeed.

"So, if something is bothering you I suggest you find ways to fix it. Because if you jeopardize this mission or the team…" The rest of the warning went unsaid, but Sakura had a fairly good idea.

It was Tsunade all over again. Delivered in the casual monotone of the jounin in many ways it was worse than the reaming the Hokage had given her.

"So I repeat," he said, "are we going to have a problem Sakura-san?"

"No sir," Sakura said flatly, injecting a little defiance in her voice.

"Well what do you know, it's the end of my shift." Kakashi said cheerfully, "Can you wake Naruto up?"

**XxX**

The town of Sumer while not particularly large was fairly prosperous. It was a popular trading ground for most silk manufacturers who brought their wares from all over the area here. So it wasn't surprising that the community wasn't the agrarian sort. No, they exported most of their food and they could afford to.

They registered their presence at the town gates which was manned by the militia. The militia was a force under the jurisdiction of the daimyo and was responsible for policing the local population and enforcing his will. They were recognizable by the blue uniforms and black batons hanging from their waist-belts.

Their process of recruiting was a fairly loose one. They were chosen from among the population by a designated samurai officer appointed by the centre. It was a system which had been established by the last daimyo. It had led to some controversy in the beginning regarding the arming and training of civilians who didn't have a military background. Mainly by the powerful samurai class.

But the growing problems with law and order required unorthodox steps like this. To get the samurai lords on-board the Daimyo gave them the responsibility to recruit the candidates and to work on its structural organization.

In a single stroke of genius he had not only placated the nobles and delegated the responsibility to the same people who had opposed it in the first place but also provided another means of employment to his people.

"Sir," one of the sentinels at the gate addressed Kakashi, "the Commander would like a word with you before you go about your business here,"he said, eyeing them somewhat distrustfully.

"Well then," Kakashi smiled at him gesturing with his arm, "please lead the way."

The militia cantonment wasn't a part of the actual town, but located at the outskirts of it. The cantonment itself was a camping-ground of sorts mainly consisting of tents as accommodation for the troops along with a few brick structures to serve as offices. The way they were made it was obvious the builder had focused more on functionality than aesthetics. It was a sentiment Kakashi approved of.

His team trailed behind him, drinking in their surroundings. It was rather interesting to observe their actions in an unfamiliar environment. Sakura's eyes kept darting all over the place, trying to gather in as much as she could, just like she had been trained. Sasuke was doing the same, except he was being a lot more subtle about it, and trusting his other senses a lot more, a product of his ANBU days. It was Naruto's reaction which was the most interesting though. He had placed his hands behind his head and seemed completely relaxed, hints of a grin playing on his lips. He seemed more like a tourist out for a day of sightseeing than a shinobi on an official mission.

He even tried to engage their guide in a conversation, but after realizing that the guard wasn't interested in one he reverted back to just taking in his surroundings. His actions led Kakashi to believe that either the guy was an idiot or potentially the greatest infiltrator he had ever seen. But then again the guy had been trained by Jiraiya, who had made his name as a lecher and an author of adult literature.

The sannin's outside persona had been so dominant that it was the only thing people noticed about him and not the legendary shinobi he was underneath. And from the looks of it Naruto might have learnt his lessons well. Already he could see that the members of militia surrounding them had written him off and were more focused on him and Sasuke.

It was the orange-clad, whisker-faced, loud blonde who was the personification of a ninja here in every sense of the word.

Who'd have guessed?

They were led to one of the few permanent structures in the cantonment. It was a sixteen by twelve feet building painted red and green. A graveled pathway led to the steps leading to the front door. An unoccupied stone bench sat outside.

Kakashi instructed his subordinates to wait while he followed the man who led him through the door and bowed in salutation to his superior. He was dismissed with the wave of a hand and the man retreated the way he came.

"Welcome to Sumer Hatake-san," the man said, getting up to offer Kakashi his arm, who took it and gave it a firm shake, "I'm Hibiki Kinomoto the Officer-in-charge here. How may we be of service?"

Translation I know who you are, but what the hell are you doing here?

"Actually I'm here to offer mine," Kakashi said genially handing the man his mission orders.

As the man perused the document, it gave Kakashi the chance to study the man. He was in his mid-thirties, with salt and pepper hair parted to the right. He wasn't particularly tall or imposing by any means, but he was obviously well-built and definitely no stranger to combat. The Daisho hanging from his waist spoke of his samurai pedigree.

"Why is someone like the 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' deployed to investigate a case of a missing girl?" the man remarked, "Its something which falls under our jurisdiction the last time I checked and I fail to see what you can achieve that we haven't."

Kakashi had been afraid of this. Ninja weren't popular with the Daimyo's forces at the best of times. Their skills and effectiveness did a good job of making others feel emasculated. The fact they weren't limited by the rules the samurai swore to uphold didn't help matters. To the shinobi the only rule that really mattered was never to be caught breaking one. In short everything the shinobi stood for was almost taken as a personal affront by the samurai class, who lived and died by the rules of bushido. That was just one of the issues though.

Kakashi however wasn't here to play up old feuds. He was here to do a job and he would do whatever it needed to get it done.

"We're here at the request of the family as I'm sure you gleaned from that document," he said placatingly, "I'm not here in any way to trample on your authority or jurisdiction Hibiki-san. Our only concern is to get the girl back or at the very least figure out what fate befell her."

Kakashi returned the man's hawk-like gaze benignly.

"How long will we be hosting you?" The man asked not removing his gaze from Kakashi's face.

"Let's give it a week," Kakashi answered, "We hope to reach a conclusion by then."

"Very well," the man nodded thoughtfully, "a week it is. I'll send a man to guide you around the city."

"That'll be acceptable," he said graciously, not bothered by the man's blatant attempt to saddle them with a watchman, "but as long as I'm here you wouldn't mind sharing the results of your investigations would you?"

The man responded by pressing a bell on his table. Its sharp ring brought a uniformed secretary running into the room who promptly bowed and stood at attention.

"Get me that file of the missing girl, Mei Arisawa," he said addressing his subordinate. The man retreated back without saying a word.

"What're your personal thoughts regarding the case?" Kakashi asked the man once they were alone again.

The man sighed heavily, dropping his veneer of professionalism, "Officially we're still continuing the investigation, but I'll admit we've hit a dead-end. At this point I personally believe that the girl is dead."

"Any particular reason for that?"

"I don't have proof but this is what I think happened," The Commander said, "the girl was kidnapped for ransom, but something went wrong and the kidnappers accidentally killed her before they could even make their demands. So they lost their bargaining chip before they could ever put it to play."

"That's not inconceivable, I suppose," Kakashi admitted, "if that's the case what happened to her body?"

"Buried, burnt, chopped off and fed to pigs," the samurai rattled off with the air of a man who didn't particularly care how morbid he sounded, "at this point does it even matter?"

The conversation halted as the secretary arrived bearing the red square folder and handed it to his superior.

"I'm afraid you can't take an official document out of the cantonment premises," the man said somewhat apologetically as he handed Kakashi the file, "nor can I allow you to make copies."

"That's okay," Kakashi assured the man as he accepted the file, he then proceeded to remove his headband concealing his eye, "I've got it covered."

The man showed remarkable restraint as Kakashi perused through the file using his sharingan and effectively memorizing every detail of their investigation. Most people thought that the doujutsu was an effective tool for stealing jutsus, but Kakashi had found that it had a lot of other practical applications as well. A few seconds later he was done memorizing the contents of the file.

"Thank you," Kakashi smiled at the samurai.

"Don't mention it."

**XxX**

"It's definitely a busy place," Kakashi remarked as they traversed the streets of the town.

"All in preparation for the Annual Merchant Festival sir," their guide a newly minted recruit who went by the name of Akio explained, "It begins in ten days from now. Bad enough the Arisawa family to have lost their daughter but to do it so close to the festival?"

"Did you know the girl?" Kakashi questioned.

"Not personally, no," Akio shook his head, "But she was extremely popular in the community and her disappearance seems to have affected them all."

"So is this the house?" Kakashi asked their guide.

"Yes it is," The man replied, "Arisawa-san may not be home. He's probably working."

"I see, Naruto, Sasuke!" Kakashi said abruptly, "Go and mingle with the locals see what you can find out. Start with the place where she was last seen. Sakura, you and I will go and speak to the family."

"Sweet!" Naruto smirked while the others just nodded.

"Wait!" Their guide exclaimed.

"Yes?" Kakashi turned his attention to the man who was now glaring at them suspiciously.

"Why don't all of you go and see the family first?" He suggested, "I'm sure the locals can wait."

"That's a good suggestion," Kakashi nodded, making a show of as if he was seriously considering it, "but unfortunately we're at something of deadline you see and using my way we can cover more ground."

He had shared the contents of the file with the team and they should know how to proceed from here without him having to hold their hand.

At the moment however he was enjoying watching the man's face turn interesting colors. He was obviously struggling to come up with a relevant excuse to stop them from splitting up and failing miserably. The man finally seemed to come to a decision.

"I guess I'll help the boys and make sure they don't get lost," he said.

"Very well," Kakashi sighed outwardly as if he was disappointed by the man's decision. 'How naïve' he thought to himself.

Kakashi and Sakura made their way to the house which belonged to their client. It was a white single-story apartment, with a little garden divided into rows of various flowers surrounding a green lawn in concentric rings. It was a garden Inoichi would have been proud of. A middle-aged woman was working on one of the rows diligently.

"Arisawa-san?" Kakashi approached the woman who looked up from her work to look at him wearing a rather puzzled expression on her face, "I'm Kakashi Hatake, Jounin affiliated with Konohagakure and this is Sakura Haruno. I believe you've been expecting us."

"Oh yes," the woman hastily got up, her face flushed from working in the sun, "I'm sorry my husband is out working and you caught me at a bad time."

"That's quite alright Arisawa-san." Kakashi assured her.

"Please come in," the woman said leading them into the house.

Kakashi and Sakura were offered seats in the living room while she disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later with a tray laden with snacks and tea.

"I can't express how grateful I am that you came," she said once she had offered the refreshments to them, "she's been missing for so long now that we were beginning to give up hope. My husband has been completely shattered ever since and only today did he find the resolve to go back to work," The woman sniffled, her eyes tearing up as she talked about her daughter.

"That's a lovely garden you have out there," Sakura joined the conversation. Kakashi had to admire the way she was distracting the distraught woman.

"Why thank you dear," the woman smiled through her unshed tears, "It is the only thing which is holding me together."

"What's your daughter like?" Kakashi tried to get back on track now that he was sure that the woman wasn't about to fall to pieces, "how did she interact with others, her friends, her elders?"

"She was loved by everyone around here," she said, "it was hard not to. So beautiful and full of life. We'd just made arrangements for her engagement too."

This latest bit of information gave Kakashi a pause.

"How did she take it?" Kakashi asked, "I mean when you told her that you were arranging her marriage," He added on seeing the look of confusion on her face.

"She was… happy about it I suppose," came the somewhat uncertain answer.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell us Arisawa-san," Kakashi was never one to not capitalize on a slip when he saw one.

"Every girl gets jitters when they are about to be married shinobi-san," she said, "I remember the day my parents broke the news of my betrothal to me, I couldn't sleep for days. She was a little anxious, yes. But that wasn't anything out of the ordinary."

"I see," he muttered, his mind working overtime working on the implications, "who was she getting married to?"

"Saito Hasawada," she said, "he's the son of a close family friend a couple of years older than Mei-chan. His father and my husband have been business partners for twenty years."

"What can you tell me about the day she disappeared?"

"There's not much to say really," she replied mournfully, "I sent her out that day to run some errands in the morning and that was the last I saw of her."

"When did you realize she had gone missing?"

"I sent my husband to go look for her when it was evening."

"Was it usual for her to remain out for extended periods of time?"

"She was a rather popular one, my daughter and we've always allowed her a little more independence," She sighed, "so no, it wasn't unusual. She would be dragged by her friends to join them for some game or another. You know how it is with youngsters. I wonder if that hadn't been her undoing?"

They sat silently for a while as Kakashi processed everything he had been told. The woman without anything to keep her mind occupied was now staring miserably at the floor probably already lost in her sorrow and regret.

"I would like to see her bedroom if that's not a problem," he said, startling the woman out of her reverie.

"Yes of course," she recovered rather admirably as she hastily got up, "this way please."

The bedroom was on placed on the southern wing of the house. The walls were painted yellow. It had three windows which ensured the room was airy and filled with natural light. A single bed lay in one corner of the room attached to the wall. A few picture frames graced themselves on the mantelpiece. Some of them were of her with girls her age, probably her friends, a few were of hers alone and a couple with her parents.

In short it was the room of a typical adolescent girl.

Except for the various canvas paintings littered around the room. Most of them were unfinished from the looks of it. Kakashi wasn't an expert on art by any means. But he had been to the capital in an official capacity and the paintings he was seeing here could easily rival the ones hanging in the royal house.

"She loved….loves to paint. It is one of the disciplines she excels at in her school," the mother's voice broke as she spoke, "she's such a talented girl."

"Indeed," Kakashi muttered, out of the corner of his eyes he could see Sakura studying some of the unfinished ones with interest. Kakashi approached her and looked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

"Anything interesting?" he said startling her. The girl really needed to work on her awareness. He was partly responsible he supposed. Ever since their last conversation she had been even more wary and uncomfortable around him than before.

"No." She said almost instantly, "I mean I don't think so."

"Speak your mind chunin," He prodded invoking her rank to remind her of the pecking order, "what is it?"

Sakura bit her lip uncertainly as if not sure if she wanted to speak her mind for the fear of appearing stupid, "the brush marks on this painting," she said pointing to the ones she was talking about, "the ones here. Appear rather agitated don't they? Almost angry."

Kakashi could see what she meant. Her other paintings were mainly landscapes which had a grace and dignity about them, but the one Sakura was examining was almost abstract in its appearance. That wasn't to say it wasn't beautiful. It was almost as if the artist was trying to paint her feelings on the canvas. It was mesmerizing in a very strange way.

"Think it means anything?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure."

"Before her disappearance was there any significant change in behavior of your daughter, something… anything unusual about her that might have caught your eye?" Kakashi questioned the matron of the house.

"Like I said, we had told her about her betrothal and she was a little anxious about it," She said, "But other than that... there was nothing."

"Did she know her fiancé?"

"Not really," came the reply, "the boy was raised in the capital where he completed his studies. He has been in Sumer for barely a few months. Believe me Kakashi-san happiness of our daughter has always been our main concern and we wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that."

Kakashi nodded to convey his agreement outwardly, but his mind was already running in the opposite direction. He knew from personal experience that parents had little idea about what their kids were up to and if the Arisawas were anything like his own they probably were just as clueless.

"When can we expect your husband to be home?"

"Why don't you drop by sometime around the evening?" she said, "I'm sure he'd like to speak to you as well."

**XxX**

To say Sasuke was annoyed would have been an understatement. He had had the misfortune to be saddled with probably the most annoying guy he had ever met and that really was saying something. At this point he would take his fangirls over him for company.

Not to say Naruto was a fangirl of course. But in his own way he was even more infuriating than they had ever been. Probably that was the reason it hadn't taken Kakashi long to leave the idiotic blonde with him. As if he needed another reason to hate the man.

The only saving grace if it could be called that was he had separated himself from Sasuke barely five minutes later as he joined a bunch of some of the dirtiest street rats he had ever seen in their game of ball. He had tried to make him join, but one glare from him made him back-off. The blonde just shrugged and with a shout to attract the children's attention had joined in.

Despite himself he couldn't help but be amazed at how easily he had been accepted by them. He might as well have been one of them. It was even more amazing considering that his playmates were several years younger than him. On second thought with his level of maturity it wasn't surprising that he fit in with kids half his age.

But he had a job to do and he worked better alone anyway. Tracking missing people was something of a specialty of his. Something he took pride in. Granted the person in question wasn't one of his usual pursuits. The people he pursued were trained killers who knew how to keep themselves hidden. Finding a civilian shouldn't be that hard.

Provided she was alive of course, something he seriously doubted.

He didn't care either way. He used to be ANBU for crying out loud. A goddamn elite and now he was reduced to running B-ranked missions with a washed-out genin and an ex-fangirl of his who by the looks of it was one bad mission away from a complete breakdown.

Credit where it was due, she did a decent job of hiding it, but he could pick up the signs. He became familiar with them during his time as an ANBU which had an attrition rate of eighty percent. Most candidates dropped out in the first six months. Sasuke had endured and proved himself to be the best of his generation.

His record spoke for itself.

The silver lining in this dark and gloomy cloud was that sooner or later one or, if he was lucky enough both of them were bound to get themselves killed or screw up badly enough to warrant the team's disbanding at which point he could go back to doing what he was before.

But till that day came he still had a job to do.

Now where was a teenaged civilian girl most likely to spend her time? He was told by Kakashi to start where she was seen last, which happened to be the local grocery store. But he doubted he would make any more progress than the local law enforcement.

No, he will pursue a different avenue.

For the first time since he had entered this town he paid attention to his guide. He wasn't fooled anymore than Kakashi had been. He was obviously keeping an eye on them, going by the age-old adage, something which escaped Sasuke at the moment, the bottom line of which was never trusting a shinobi.

The man was obviously not pleased by his assigned task. To be fair they hadn't made his job easier by any means. He was supposed to keep an eye on all of them and now he was left with only him. He could have chosen to stick with the orange-clad idiot of course but he had obviously judged him (quite rightly so in his opinion) to be the one who needed to be kept under watch.

Well it was time the guide made himself useful.

"The missing girl," Sasuke said, "you wouldn't know how she spent her time would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," the man frowned, "but girls from affluent families like hers attend the local finishing school, so I'm guessing so did she."

It wasn't a lot but it was a start and if he had to start shooting arrows in the dark, this was as good a place as any.

Sasuke was familiar with the concept of finishing school. Konoha had a couple. It was where civilian girls from wealthy families were taught the skills which would serve them for the rest of their lives including but not limited to cuisine, flower arrangement, tea ceremony etc. In short all the skills required to manage the homely affairs of the affluent men they'd end up marrying.

The school wasn't far from the market. It was a solid marble structure supported by big pillars supporting the ceiling twenty feet off the ground. In addition it had a sprawling lawn and a pool at its centre. The gates of the school were guarded by two uniformed sentinels, who allowed him in after the guide explained his presence.

He was granted an audience with the headmistress almost immediately once he revealed his purpose to the receptionist. The guide was told to wait outside while he was led to the office of the Headmistress. The office was a room with a high ceiling. A scroll with the kanji of autumn was hanging from one of the walls. There was no furniture to speak of in the room. Only tatami mats on the floor surrounding a small table. A woman sat on one end of the table brewing a pot of tea who Sasuke deduced to be the person he was here to see.

The headmistress was a woman probably in her sixties, dressed in a royal blue kimono. Her hair had been tied in a severe bun. Her stern face might have been attractive at one time, but age had left its inevitable mark on it.

Sasuke was no expert, but the woman's graceful movements and confidence was enough to tell him that he was in the presence of a master of the tea ceremony.

Removing his sandals at the door, he got to his knees and slid the door close behind him. Washing his hands and rinsing his mouth as the ceremony demanded he finally took his position in front of her sitting in seiza.

The woman's face softened and her gaze turned into one of approval at his observance of etiquette.

"I see you're familiar with the ways of the tea ceremony," she said approvingly.

"My mother was a practitioner of the Chabako Temae," he said bowing in appreciation of the compliment, "She once hosted the Daimyo himself."

His use of the past tense in reference to his mother wasn't missed by the old matron, but she refrained from pursuing it, much to Sasuke's relief.

"So," she poured him a cup of the hot beverage, "how can I help you shinobi-san?"

"I'm here regarding one of your students," He accepted the offered cup with both hands, "the missing one in fact, Mei Arisawa."

"Yes of course," The woman said, "as a teacher we aren't supposed to have favorites, but I have no hesitation in saying that Mei Arisawa was the brightest girl to have walked through those gates. It was an honor and privilege to have taught her."

Sasuke had a feeling that the matron was usually a lot more miserly in her praise.

"So you have never had any problems with her?" Sasuke asked.

"None whatsoever," came the emphatic reply, "You must understand shinobi-san, a lot of these girls we teach are talented. But few have the mental fortitude and discipline to go the whole way. Mei wasn't only talented but focused and disciplined as well."

A prodigy then. That opened a whole other box of troubles unfortunately.

"Did this cause any jealousy among her peers?"

"I'm afraid I really can't answer that," the woman smiled, "I'm certain a few were. But she was such a humble girl so it couldn't have been easy to hate her. But from what I had observed of her interactions with her peers, she seemed to get along well enough with most of them."

Great she wasn't just a prodigy she was also a saint. Just what he needed.

Thanking the matron he decided to interview the instructors. Unfortunately they didn't have anything new to add. All of them were unanimous in their praise for the missing girl and could see no reason for why such a fate should befall her. In their own way they had assumed the worst.

So now Sasuke was now sitting in an outdoor eatery waiting for Kakashi and hoping he would have something concrete. Not that he cared about the girl's fate, but the sooner this was resolved the sooner he could get out of here.

Fortunately he didn't have to wait long.

Unfortunately he was joined by the one person he wanted to see the least. Uzumaki Naruto occupied the seat facing him, grinning goofily as if he was having the time of his life. Oh how he wished he could wipe that stupid smile off his face.

"I'm guessing by that frown, you didn't have much luck with your inquiries," he reached for his plate of dango and was promptly swatted away by him.

"Well at least I've been making inquiries," he remarked, "which is more than I can say about you."

"Hey don't go around dissing my work process," Naruto scowled rubbing his arm where Sasuke had struck him, "I'll have you know that I maybe onto something here."

"Okay I'll bite, what did you find out?" Sasuke said skeptically, trying to weed out information from him without revealing any of what he'd learnt so far.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked at him knowingly. It seemed he wasn't quite as stupid as he looked.

"Other than indulging your juvenile interests, I don't see what else you could've achieved," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Naruto stared at him and for once there wasn't a smile on his face. But it didn't seem as if he was affected by his insult. It was more akin to him sizing him up, as if trying to make a decision about him. Sasuke met his gaze impassively but he couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by it.

Finally Naruto's face broke into its usual grin.

"Fine you win," He raised his arms in mock resignation, "I'll show you mine then you can show me yours. Deal?"

Innuendo aside Sasuke didn't have problems with this arrangement. If he wasn't satisfied he could always hold back on what he had learnt.

"Fine."

Naruto leaned towards him, his eyes shining with excitement and theatrically dropping his voice to levels barely above a whisper as if he was sharing a deep secret.

"The gate is the only way in and out of the city."

Sasuke's finger twitched towards his kunai. A nicked jugular. He will bleed out in minutes and he probably won't even feel it. But that was interfering with his desire of making him suffer.

His murderous intentions must have been evident on his face because Naruto's face had visibly paled.

"Hey guys,"Naruto was saved from death by decapitation, due to the timely arrival of their commander and their pink-haired teammate, "glad to see you've found a productive way to spend your time."

"Dobe here figured out that the only way to enter and leave the city is by the front gate," Sasuke said, getting a whine of indignation from Naruto.

"Hmmm…. I see," Kakashi dragged a chair and took a seat beside Sasuke, leaving Sakura to share space with Naruto, "You're sure about this?"

"My sources are very reliable."

"As reliable as a bunch of eight year olds can get," Sasuke said drily.

"For your information," Naruto said in a self-important tone, "They were ten."

"Of course. That makes it better."

"Boys, boys," Kakashi admonished them, "keep it in your pants, at least until you can get some privacy."

Sakura snorted as she tried to contain her laughter, gaining the attention of the three men in the process.

"Sorry," She apologized, uncomfortable at being the center of attention, "but I'm with Sasuke here, how reliable can a bunch of kids be? No offence."

"Some taken," Naruto waved off her apologies, "You don't know them like I do."

"You've known them for a couple of hours." Sakura deadpanned.

"If Naruto says he trusts his source," Kakashi interrupted, "I'll take his word for it." Sasuke looked like he wanted to protest but Kakashi quelled him with a pointed look, "Moving on, what have you got for me Sasuke?"

Sasuke took a calming breath and then recapitulated his encounter with the matron and the other instructors, who gave him a patient hearing without any interruptions.

"That's all you've got?" Naruto questioned once he was done, "that she was a docile prodigy who apparently walked on clouds."

"I guess it isn't better than the gem you provided.."

"Boys, boys what did we talk about PDA just now."

Sasuke wasn't sure why this was happening. He was usually so good at ignoring annoying people and had a better control of his emotions, but the blonde genin had pushed his buttons the way only Kakashi was capable of. To make matters worse, Kakashi had to come between them to keep things from escalating.

"What does all this mean?" Sakura mused aloud.

"Assuming that the law enforcers did their job competently," Kakashi said, "its probably safe to assume that the girl is no longer in the town."

"That's a big assumption to make." Sasuke muttered.

"So where does that leave us?" Sakura said ignoring Sasuke's quip.

"Everything that comes inside the town is given a thorough inspection by the guards," Naruto said, "but nothing which leaves the town is given so much as a second glance… just putting it out there."

"And you got this from your… reliable sources of course?" Sasuke mocked.

"Actually, I talked to some of the guards who were taking a break from their shift."

"And they just told you this," Sakura looked at Naruto skeptically.

"You'll be surprised with what people are willing to tell you if you ask the right questions, just the right way," Naruto shrugged, "Moreover it isn't as if its national security or anything, I'm sure by the end of the day we'd have seen it for ourselves."

Sasuke had to admit that was rather eloquently put. There was obviously more to the genin than appearances otherwise suggested.

"Speaking of guards," Sakura said rather thoughtfully, "Where's Akio?"

Sakura and Kakashi turned their gazes to Naruto, who had now turned his to Sasuke. He could see the realization dawning in their eyes as within a few short seconds he was on the receiving end two and a half sets of judgmental stares.

"Oops," he said dryly.

**XxX**

Kakashi didn't enjoy being put under a spotlight. Especially not when said spotlight was on him for all the wrong reason and even more so, when it was because of an oversight on the part of one of his subordinates. He hadn't been put in a position like this since his early days as an ANBU Captain when one of his orders had been misinterpreted and had led his squad to surround a pond expecting to ambush a Kiri missing-nin only for it to turn out to be the home to a species of geese which had been thought to be extinct long ago.

Zoologists had renamed the species after him in recognition of the discovery.

He wished the Hokage had been as impressed.

He really missed those days.

Hibiki Kinomoto considered himself to be a relatively reasonable man. But he really should've seen this coming. Shinobi weren't to be trusted, but he'd done his best to accommodate them. His only hope had been that they would allow themselves to be monitored. It was his way of offering truce. He wouldn't make things difficult for them as long as he could keep an eye on them.

But it hadn't taken them long to get rid of their 'escort'. He was in the middle of giving Akio a dressing down for losing them when the reason for his current headache made his presence known and immediately he had a new target to direct his ire at.

Except this wasn't one of his subordinates. This was a jounin. An elite shinobi. This man was a step, maybe two away from the rank of a kage, the equivalent of a general, in the ninja hierarchy. He couldn't tear him a new one, as much as he wanted to.

He dismissed the cowering boy and turned his glare towards the man.

"You're putting me in a very hard position Hatake-san," he said breaking the silence.

"Is that so?" Came the rather nonchalant reply.

The man was obviously trying to get a rise out of him, but over the years he had gained a rather thick skin and could allow most things to roll off his back.

"I'm a straightforward man Hatake-san," he said, "I'd rather not play games if it can be helped."

"Well I'll give you that," the shinobi nodded, "you weren't exactly being subtle setting that tail on us. But you really have to stop being suspicious of us Commander. We're on the same side here."

"If you want me to stop being suspicious of you," He retorted, "then you've got to stop acting suspicious."

They seemed to reach an impasse as Hibiki was in no mood to concede his stand on the issue and he didn't think the jounin was either.

"Look Commander," The jounin sighed , "I understand your position, I really do but we're here to do a job and I'd prefer to do it without constantly having to look over my shoulder."

"No, that's the thing you don't," Hibiki said vehemently, "you ninja walk in wherever you feel like doing whatever you want, and we're the ones left to clean up the mess."

"Trust me Hibiki-san," Kakashi replied coolly, "we're here on orders and our only concern is the safe retrieval of the girl and we haven't made a mess yet."

Hibiki took a deep calming breath, he came close to losing his temper which wouldn't do him any good.

"The only reason I've cooperated as much as I've is for the sake of that girl and her poor parents," he muttered heavily, "I'm hoping you'll succeed where my men have failed, but your actions aren't convincing me of your sincerity."

"You've to understand Hibiki-san," Kakashi said, "our way of working is different than yours, we don't confine ourselves to the norms and rules that bind you."

"And you wonder why I don't trust you." He retorted.

"Regardless," Kakashi said, "right now maybe we're the last hope you've of finding the girl. If you bear with us we will be out of your hair before you know it."

Hibiki considered what this. As much as it galled him to admit it, the shinobi was probably right. The sooner they were done with this, the sooner they would cease to be his problem.

"Fine," Hibiki leant forward on his table, "but I need something from you too. I can't just let you have a free run in my town."

"What do you require of me?" The jounin sighed warily.

"I need you to keep me updated on your investigation."

Kakashi paused, seemingly considering the offer, "Okay," he finally said, "but I need your word, that you will keep whatever I reveal to you confidential."

"How do I know you will keep your word?"

"How about this then?" Kakashi said, "As an act of faith I'll tell you something we have inferred from our limited time here."

"I'm listening."

Kakashi's next words left Hibiki's jaw hanging in surprise.

"You can't be serious," he said on finally finding his voice.

**Character Profile**

**Kakashi Hatake**

**Affiliation: Konoha**

**Registration ID: 0216**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team : Team 7**

**Bio: The son of Sakumo Hatake and student of the Yondaime, Kakashi has a pedigree as good as any in Konoha. Hailed as a genius and prodigy his rise through the ranks can only be described as meteoric. Becoming a Jounin before his teens during the Third Shinobi War where he also gained notoriety as the Copy-cat ninja famous for stealing over a thousand jutsus during the war with his sharingan. It was soon followed by a very successful stint in the ANBU. Casual and laid-back when off-duty he is a perfectionist when it comes to his missions. Haunted and plagued by the death of his teammates and sensei, he is known to go above and beyond to protect those under his charge.**

**A/N:- The tea ceremony scene is probably not accurate, so I apologize if I've offended any sensibilities. But on the bright side we're finally into the start of the story-arc so there's that. So do tell what you think.**

**Until next time.**


	6. The Missing Damsel-II

**The Missing Damsel-II**

Hibiki had to try hard to keep his composure after Kakashi's revelation. But keep his composure he did.

"And pray tell Hatake-san," he said sceptically, "how did you come to this conclusion?"

"The fact that your people haven't found her yet," Kakashi replied, "I'm sure even you must have entertained this possibility sometime during your investigation."

Hibiki couldn't dispute that, but this actually raised more question than it answered.

"That still doesn't explain how anyone could've have gotten her out of the town without anyone noticing?"

"The same way everyone else leaves the town Commander," Kakashi said, "through the front gate."

"Are you mocking me Hatake-san?" Hibiki struggled to keep his voice calm.

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Kakashi folded his arms as he put his point across, "let me ask you, do your men check all the imports coming into the city?"

"Yes, we do," He was taken a bit off-guard by the sudden change in topic, "Every container and every crate is searched and catalogued."

"So you don't miss a single one."

"No we don't," he said warily, having some inkling as to where this conversation was headed, but asked nevertheless, "where're you going with this?"

"You know very well what I'm trying to say Commander." Came the reply.

He knew what the jounin was saying, he just couldn't comprehend it let alone believe it.

"Are you suggesting that one of the merchants is responsible for Mei Arisawa's disappearance?" He demanded, "Do you have any idea what those accusations might mean?"

"You say you check and catalogue all the imports that make their way into the town," The jounin said ignoring his outburst, "can you say the same about the stuff leaving the town?"

**XxX**

Sasuke pulled on the collar of his kimono to give his sweating neck some relief.

"Stop fidgeting Sasuke-kun," Sakura admonished him, "it doesn't look attractive."

"Why am I the one doing this again?" He asked, thoroughly annoyed at his current predicament, "why can't the genin?"

"Because while I'm sure Naruto has his talents, I doubt being charming is one of them," Came the reply before she studied his face,"not that its yours either but apparently you compensate for it, moreover he has his own task."

"Okay," He deadpanned, "but why am I wearing this ridiculous get-up, and why the hell do I smell like flowers?"

"The perfume may have been a little bit too much," Sakura bit her lip, her expression slightly concerned.

"The what now?" Sasuke demanded furiously.

"Well it's too late anyway!" Sakura said hurriedly, "get ready here they come."

Sasuke sighed in defeat and got ready to do what he had been ordered to do. He'd been forced into a cream-colored kimono by Kakashi in favor of his shinobi gear to make him look more…presentable. Why on earth did Kakashi have a cream-colored kimono on him was another matter altogether. Sakura had done his hair, adding generous amounts of hair product he didn't dare ask what, to tame his usually spiky locks. Thankfully she had left his face be. He had protested against his treatment in the beginning but one look from Kakashi had quelled all rebellious thoughts.

Despite his laid-back demeanor that man could be very intimidating when he wanted to be. It also confirmed Sasuke's fears that this task was punishment for his supposed 'screw-up' of ditching their guide. While Naruto went about his assigned task and Kakashi went to put out the fires his actions might have caused by smoothing things over with the Commander, he was stuck doing... whatever he was doing right now.

All things considered it was most probably Sakura who had the most important job.

They were waiting outside the gates of the school Sasuke had visited earlier in the day. Their next task was to interview some of the peers of the missing girl, something he'd been unable to do earlier in the day as he was refused permission to interview them during school hours. Sakura had later told him that they only needed to talk to one.

But Kakashi had insisted on being thorough and insisted that they talk to all of her classmates. Due to constraints of time, he came up with a plan to get Sasuke to talk to all of them…at the same time.

Why they couldn't do this at the girl's house was something which evaded Sasuke. He really wasn't satisfied with Kakashi's explanation of it being easier without protective parents looking over their shoulders.

He was sure he could've done this without having to dress-up, but Kakashi had insisted that this required a more subtle approach than usual.

Sasuke was getting the feeling that Kakashi's plan had nothing to do with increasing the efficiency of their work.

Hence, his current predicament.

A resounding gong signaled the end of school for the day, and it wasn't long before a gaggle of girls dressed in identical green kimono exited the premises, chatting animatedly among themselves. That was his cue. Trying to appear as nonchalant as he could he approached them and for reasons he couldn't quite explain he felt himself break into a nervous sweat. Something that hadn't happened since his first solo mission.

"Greetings ladies," he addressed them, "fancy joining me for a drink?"

Sakura resisted the urge to slap her palm on her forehead at Sasuke's deadpan delivery, so she settled for rolling her eyes. He had made his distaste for the task quite clear and had approached it with all the enthusiasm of a chicken headed for slaughter. His expression couldn't have been more sour if he'd been forced to swallow a lemon whole. When the girls stopped talking among themselves and just stared at him dumbstruck, she was sure he'd blown it. But then as one broke they broke into a fresh set of giggles and Sakura sighed in relief and watched them crowd around the attractive Uchiha as they led him away.

He may not have exactly killed it with his delivery and charm but thankfully his good looks more than made up for any deficiency in that department, at least when it came to attract shallow, immature girls anyway.

Thank heavens for pubescent tendencies.

Part of Sakura couldn't help wondering if she had looked as silly as those girls did when she was pursuing Sasuke's affections.

'She probably had', she realized to her own mortification.

Discretely she approached the girl at the back-end of the group. It didn't take her long to single her out. She was the least enthusiastic and looked rather lost. The contrast with that photograph they found at their client's house was striking. But that was only because she was dressed more casually there and seemed a lot more relaxed, not to mention her hair was left loose.

She touched her gently on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Can I have a word Ibuki-san?" The girl gave a start as she turned to face her.

"Do I know you?" She asked once she'd regained her composure.

"I'm afraid not." Sakura admitted, "I'm looking into the disappearance of Mei Arisawa. You were friends I believe."

"I've already told the cops everything I know." She said resignedly.

"I'm not a cop I assure you," Sakura smirked internally at having been mistaken as a law enforcer, "and I just need five minutes of your time."

"If you're not a cop, then who're you and what is your interest in Mei-chan?" The girl eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm a kunoichi from Konoha, hired by Mei Arisawa's parents to find her," Sakura said, "My name is Haruno Sakura." She added as an afterthought.

"Mei Arisawa has been missing for weeks," Ibuki said, "I doubt anyone can find her now."

"Be that may it is a task we've been assigned and we are expected to see it through," Sakura said, "your cooperation will be appreciated."

The girl pursed her lips, obviously suspicious of her. Sakura didn't miss the disapproval in her eyes at her attire either, which consisted of green shorts and a red sleeveless top. As far as clothes went Sakura had learnt early in her career that practicality and functionality would serve her better than fashion and modesty. A part of her wondered if she shouldn't have made herself more presentable like Sasuke.

"There is a park," she finally said to Sakura's relief, "a few minutes' walk from here. We can talk there."

The park was not a particularly large one. Especially when compared to the Tobirama Senju Park back in Konoha. But that was where the differences ended. The children ran around squealing in joy, with exasperated parents keeping watch from a distance. Some of the older citizens were engrossed in games of go or shogi.

Sakura was led to a bench in a rather solitary part of the park. Once both of them were seated her companion spoke again. "So what'd you want to know kunoichi-san?"

Sakura was sure she was done with the harder part of her task which was convincing the girl to talk to her. But sitting here, she realized she may have underestimated its difficulty. Now that the girl had agreed, she had to make sure she asked the right questions.

Think Sakura think. She prodded herself. She couldn't ask questions they already knew the answers to. She had to play this smart. She couldn't help feeling annoyed with Kakashi. He literally had them flying blind here. When she'd asked him what they needed from this interview, he'd told her in his usual annoyingly nonchalant way to use her imagination.

"So how long have you known Mei Arisawa?" She said finally making up her mind about the line of questioning she wanted to pursue.

"Close to ten years now." Came the prompt reply.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

Ibuki smoothed over her kimono nervously, "The day before she disappeared, she came over."

"Was that usual?" Sakura prodded.

"It wasn't unusual." Ibuki's reply remained evasive.

"Was something bothering her lately?" Sakura pursued, "Something she might not have wanted to share with her parents."

"No." She said abruptly, "She didn't tell me anything."

"You're lying." Sakura said and as soon as she did she realized that it was a mistake. Already she could see Ibuki's eyes hardening and her posture getting more defensive.

"I'm afraid I've to leave now kunoichi-san." Ibuki got to her feet, "My parents are expecting me home."

Sakura cursed under her breath as she watched the girl leave and it was with some difficulty she resisted the urge to follow her. It wouldn't do any good now.

She had failed.

XxX

Naruto tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. He'd been waiting for almost an hour now and it seemed he'd have to wait longer. With time he'd managed to curb his restlessness to a great extent, but it hadn't made enduring it any easier. This less than hospitable treatment wasn't totally unexpected though. He'd appeared unannounced and the reason for his visit probably hadn't helped matters. Then when then they realized that he was shinobi and it probably all went downhill from there.

In short his efforts to gain an audience with Taro Mishima, Mei Arisawa's fiance hadn't been going well.

If he had his way, he'd have infiltrated the place, talked to the employees, scoped out the factory before making up a bogus excuse to demand a meeting with whoever was in charge. But with Sasuke's screw-up, Kakashi had vetoed on his way. They couldn't afford to alienate the Commander anymore than they already had, and concealing their identity from the local populace to gather intelligence was a sure-fire way of doing that. Kakashi hadn't bothered to hide his displeasure with Sasuke, but Naruto suspected that at least part of the ire was directed at him as well.

Still, he thrived on handicaps like these in his own humble opinion. Fate never closed a door without opening a window and he'd taken the opportunity to improvise. Depending on how it played out, it had the potential to either pay off in a spectacular way, be a waste of time, or blow up so badly that it will make Sasuke's offense look like a kid playing truant from his school and considering the trouble he got into for playing truant it didn't bode well for him in case things did go sideways.

It was a big risk for an unknown reward. But as his sensei used to say, those were the best kind.

"Mishima-san will see you now," a young woman, dressed in a blue kimono, most probably an assistant told him. Naruto was led into the office area, some distance from the actual factory. The hallway was nothing to write home about but the office itself was however was a different matter altogether. It was as luxurious as any he'd seen, complete with mahogany tables, decent lighting and comfortable chairs. The walls were graced by beautiful paintings and the floor was carpeted.

The atmosphere inside however wasn't nearly as attractive as the decorations, as the man he'd come to meet was giving one of his employees a dressing down.

"You imbecile!" He shouted at his subordinate who stood cowering in the face of this onslaught, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't boot your ass out of here right now."

The assistant who'd led him here cleared her throat to get her boss's attention, gaining a rather irritable look from him, which softened a fraction on seeing her.

"This isn't over." He waved off the subject of his ire. The man for his part got out of the office as fast as he could have without running, happy for the reprieve no matter how brief it would be. The assistant bowed once and retreated from the room.

He was a young man in his early twenties, of medium height. He could've been considered good-looking if it weren't for the severe scowl etched on his face. Something about his demeanor reminded him of Sasuke.

"So, what service can I be to an esteemed shinobi such as yourself?" The man gestured Naruto to take a seat, his voice heavy with irony.

Naruto resisted the urge to fire off a smart-ass remark of his own and decided to play to the man's ego. So he blinked a couple of times feigning confusion before puffing himself up with self-importance at his words.

"I'm genin Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha," He introduced himself, "here to investigate the disappearance of Mei Arisawa, your fiancee."

"Look I've already been through this before," the man said irritably, "but I'll tell you what I told the authorities. I don't know what happened to her. I barely knew her. The marriage was arranged by our respective fathers, who happen to be friends and business partners."

"How often did you meet her?" Naruto asked.

"I met her twice in my entire life." Came the prompt reply, "Look, I don't know if you know this but I have spent nearly my whole life in the Capital. My father booted me off the day I learnt to talk. You were asking about our meetings? Both times it was in presence of our parents. That answer your question? Now if that's all I'd like to get back to work Uzumaki-san, as you can see I'm a rather busy man."

"Just a couple more questions and I'll be out of here," Naruto assured him.

"Fine." The man snapped.

"How did Arisawa-san react to the engagement?"

"How the hell would I know?" He exclaimed, "Like I said, the couple of times we met were in extremely formal settings, hardly a conducive environment for a heart to heart."

Naruto suppressed a smirk at his reaction. Without meaning to, the man had given him exactly what he was trying to conceal and what Naruto wanted.

"How did you feel about it?"

"I wasn't averse to it?" The man shrugged.

"Wasn't?" Naruto repeated the man's words, "Are you averse to it now Mishima-san?"

"She's been missing for almost two weeks now." He said slowly obviously catching his own slip but trying to play it off coolly, but Naruto had caught the flash of panic in his eyes before he disguised it, "that was your second question and I think I've indulged you enough." He pressed a button under his desk and almost immediately a burly guard entered the office, "Please escort shinobi-san to the front door."

"No need," Naruto said amiably, getting to his feet, "I can show myself out. Thank you for your time."

**XxX**

Naruto made his way to the government resthouse where they'd be staying. These resthouses were built specifically for officials of the state, on-duty/visiting samurais and even the shinobi. The receptionist directed him to the rooms his team was assigned. He expected to be the first one back, considering the short nature of his interview, but to his surprise he was greeted by the sight of the rather downcast figure of Sakura Haruno occupying one of the chairs with her hands on chin, obviously deep in thought.

A girl that fine shouldn't have to look so dejected, he decided. Plastering a grin on his face, and preparing the corniest pick-up line he could think of he approached her.

"Excuse me miss, but I was wondering if your father was a terrorist?" He said getting a bewildered look out of her, seizing the opportunity to finish it before her mind caught up, he delivered the second half of this killer line, "Because he created a bomb."

"I've put people in the hospital after better attempts," she said after recovering a few seconds later, her face reverting to its original melancholic state, "just putting it out there."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Naruto remarked seating himself besides the kunoichi, "especially if they get to have you nursing them to health afterwards."

He saw her struggling to suppress a smile, "for some reason they're never conscious to enjoy it," She said now trying to act annoyed but definitely enjoying the banter, "Want to find out why?"

"Tempting, but I think I'll pass." He said, "The talk with our victim's best friend didn't go as well as you hoped?"

Sakura glared at him balefully as her shoulders slumped in dejection.

"She literally refused to talk to me." Sakura said her voice sullen.

"Well if it makes you feel any better." Naruto said trying to be as comforting as he could, "My mark kicked me out of his office."

"You don't say." Sakura's eyes widened in mock-disbelief.

Naruto had to admit for someone with a rather limited sense of humor, she had the sarcasm down pat. Still he could feel her mood improving and that counted as a win in his book. They sat in silence, waiting for their remaining team members to arrive.

"Can you stop doing that?" Sakura shouted exasperatedly.

"Doing what?" Naruto asked mystified at her outburst.

"You've been tapping your foot for the last five minutes," She said, "Its getting on my nerves."

Naruto hadn't realized it, "Yeah, sorry about that." He said sheepishly, "I get a little restless sometimes."

"Just... keep it in check will you?" Sakura's eyes softened at his placating gesture and they went back to sitting in silence.

Naruto observed his new teammate. She seemed to be tightly wound-up and under some stress judging by how she was lashing out at him. And his earlier attempts to get her to relax while being mildly successful hadn't been enough.

"Hey!" He said, the silence finally getting to him, "You wanna share notes on what went wrong with our encounters?"

Sakura stiffened up before turning to gaze at him rather skeptically, "You mean like a brainstorming session?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, "No, I don't think so." She said.

"What've you got to lose?" Naruto pressed, not deterred by her refusal, "As it is none of us have anything we can give Kakashi. Maybe I can provide some insight and then you can return the favor." The girl bit her lip seemingly considering his offer, an action Naruto found rather cute.

"Fine." Sakura finally relented.

"So, how did your conversation go?" Naruto requested.

"I just told you."

"I meant word for word."

Sakura frowned at the strange request, but conceded. She told him how Sasuke had dressed up to gain the girls' attention, she'd expected a joke there, but he stayed silent. She recapitulated her entire encounter with Ibuki, and found a patient listener in Naruto. He did stop her once in a while, firing off some questions, mostly regarding Ibuki's reactions and her body language. When she was done, they sat in silence for a while.

"Well?" Sakura demanded once the silence got too much for her.

"I can see why she refused to talk." He remarked. "I'm surprised you haven't."

"Well care to share?" She said irritably, while biting back some comments she wanted to fire.

"She's just lost her best friend." Naruto said, "And from the way she avoided you, its quite obvious that she is hiding something."

"Yeah I got that too." Sakura retorted.

"What you failed to notice was that she actually wanted to talk." Sakura wanted to tell him he was wrong but he interrupted her before she could, " Let me put it this way." Naruto leant forward resting his elbows on his knees, "Who's your best friend?"

"I'd like to get somewhere with this." Sakura fumed, "Preferably before I die of old age."

"Humor me."

"Ino Yamanaka."

"So… wait Ino Yamanaka? Hot blonde, great rack.." Naruto said getting sidetracked.

"Naruto.." Sakura growled interrupting him.

"Sorry," Naruto smiled sheepishly, "so if Ino was to tell you a secret you'd keep it right? Come what may?"

"That goes without saying." Sakura replied.

"Can't you think of any circumstance where you might be persuaded to give up that secret?"

Realization struck Sakura like a bolt of lightning. Without wasting another second she got up and left the room, almost colliding with a disgruntled looking Sasuke on the way. Later she'd realize that she'd never been less aware of the handsome Uchiha.

"You're welcome." Naruto muttered staring at the retreating figure of the pink-headed chunin, and was soon face to face with the less pleasant visage of the scowling Uchiha. They stared at each other in awkward silence and Naruto decided he could use some cheering up too. Who knows it might work just as well on him as it did on Sakura.

"So was your father a terrorist?"

**XxX**

Sakura waited outside Ibuki's house. She'd left the resthouse in a hurry with the intention of confronting the girl. In hindsight however she was beginning to realize that she didn't know how to get the girl out. She could knock, but the girl had made it clear that she didn't want to speak to her and she doubted the girl's parents would be accommodating a stranger who'd no business being there. She cursed herself for not thinking this through.

If only she'd brought that blonde idiot with her. She thought uncharitably before immediately reprimanding herself. Naruto had been surprisingly insightful and had given her an idea as to how she could get the girl to talk to her.

Too bad she couldn't just scale the walls to her bedroom and just get it over with. It'd be easy. She could see the lights on in her bedroom. Like the homes of most people belonging to the merchant class, Ibuki's house was a beautiful double story structure with a sprawling garden, not unlike their client's. But as attractive as the house was, it was a disaster as far as security concerns went.

The vines leading to the bedroom window on the first floor were a burglar's dream come true, not to mention the pipes or the trees in the surroundings.

She could take that route, but they were in hot water as it was and she didn't even want to consider the trouble they'd be in if this went wrong. With that thought she threw that idea into that mental waste-bin where it belonged.

Unfortunately that didn't solve her current conundrum.

But fortunately it seemed she wouldn't have to try too hard as Ibuki was now coming out of her house with a basket in hand, probably to do some shopping. Seeing the opportunity to do what she'd failed to before, she approached her.

"Ibuki-san." She called her out.

The girl turned around, her eyes widening in recognition on seeing her. "Kunoichi-san." She said her tone clipped, "I thought I made it clear that I've nothing more to say. I wish you a good day."

"I don't believe that." Sakura said, "You could've blown me off when I first approached you, but you didn't. You wanted to talk and that is why you led me to that park." Sakura saw Ibuki's eyes losing their resolve, "I have a best friend too you know." She approached the girl with all the care and precaution that should be afforded a cornered animal, "we've known each other so long that we could practically be sisters."

"Why are you telling me this?" The girl's voice broke as she spoke and Sakura knew she was getting through to her.

"I'm telling you this because I can understand what you're going through," Sakura said emphatically, "I'd take my friend's secrets to the grave too." Sakura paused to let the gravity of her statement sink in, "as long as they don't take her to hers."

Ibuki froze, and they both stood motionless for a while. Sakura was beginning to wonder if what she said had put the girl in shock. Then to her surprise the girl broke down in tears, almost falling to her knees. Sakura rushed forward to help the girl and led her to one of the roadside benches. Sakura put one arm around the girl as she wept. Once she'd recovered enough Sakura offered her a handkerchief, which she accepted gratefully.

"It was never easy you know." The girl smiled bitterly through her tears, "Always being in her shadow. She was always so good at everything. Beauty, grace, talent… she had it all and everyone loved her."

"You were jealous." Sakura observed.

The girl nodded, "It had never been an issue though you know. I knew she was better than me. She was better than everyone." She sniffled, "But not only was she never conceited about her gifts… she hated them."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Ironic isn't it?" Ibuki said, "Most girls in her position would have given an arm and a leg to have what she had, and she couldn't care less."

The more Sakura listened to the girl talk, the more she found herself relating to her. On the surface they couldn't have come from more different backgrounds. She was a shinobi and this girl was a civilian and yet they couldn't be more similar either. Sakura knew what it was to be in the shadow of a best friend who was better at everything in their chosen way of life. She too resented Ino for all the things she took for granted that Sakura had to work hard for.

It was strange that she'd found a kindred spirit so far from home.

"So do you have any idea what might've happened to her?" Sakura asked.

"No." The girl shook her head, "I do know though that she didn't want to get married."

"We talked to her mother." Sakura said, "She did say that she was anxious about her marriage."

"It was more than that." Ibuki insisted, "She wasn't ready to get married."

"Did she tell you this?"

"Yes." Ibuki nodded, "I don't blame her either. Taro Mishima may have the looks of an angel but his temper is worse than the devil's. I heard the other day he got into an argument with one of his workers and thrashed him to within an inch of his life."

Sakura recognized the name as that of Mei's fiance. The man Naruto was supposed to interview and had admittedly failed to get any positive info.

"Did the law enforcers know about this?" She asked.

"They did," Ibuki admitted, "but the Mishima family is very influential, so the matter was dropped."

Sakura digested this new piece of information with some interest, "So she didn't like her fiance." Sakura surmised, "Did her parents know about her aversion to the guy?"

"No, I don't think so."Came the reply. "She wouldn't have wanted to disappoint her parents."

For the first time since they started their investigation Sakura felt that she was making some contribution. It might've nothing to do with the girl's disappearance, but it gave them something to work with.

"The day before she disappeared," Ibuki spoke again, "Mei said she was going to try and convince Taro to call off the wedding," her voice started breaking as she continued, "I tried talking her out of it, I tried to warn her about his temper but she said it was the only way." She was trembling now, "Oh my god! What if he killed her? What if by keeping my silence I let her get killed?"

"You don't know that yet." Sakura rubbed the girl's back who now seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, "even if you're right it wouldn't be your fault."

"I couldn't help her." Ibuki wailed miserably, "Now she might be dead because of me."

Sakura found herself helpless in the face of the girl's overwhelming sorrow at having failed her friend. All she could do was hold her as she wept.

**XxX**

"So little Miss perfect wasn't so perfect after all." Sasuke remarked once Sakura had debriefed the rest of the team.

"You can say that again," Naruto agreed, "but it is good news."

"How can someone's misery be good news?" Sakura demanded offended at their callous attitudes.

"Sakura calm down." Kakashi said, "While Naruto could've shown a little more tact..." Naruto opened his mouth as if to refute Kakashi before closing it and shrugging, "he does have a point. We weren't getting far on the glowing testimonials of her parents and teachers. This just might be the break we needed."

"So is Taro Mishima our new suspect?" Sakura mused aloud.

"Let's just call him a person of interest for now," Kakashi stared pointedly at Naruto, "we'd have had more to go on if someone had done what they were supposed to do."

"The guy kicked me out and I did say he had something to hide." Naruto protested, "And now we may know what."

"Any of you idiots have a light?" Sasuke spoke up abruptly breaking the flow of their conversation, "I need to step out for a smoke."

Sakura's bewilderment at the statement overcame any feelings of disapproval she may have had for Sasuke's need to partake in the cancer sticks.

She hadn't seen him smoke ever since they got reacquainted. He hadn't lighted up even once during their journey and neither had he done it after getting here.

So what was he playing at? Was he using a code?

She found the answer on Kakashi's face. His relaxed demeanor had tensed but his next words were casual enough, "I'm afraid you're gonna have to go to the front-desk and see if they can spare you a lighter to indulge your nicotine fix."

"Carry on then." Sasuke said as he exited the room, "Don't wait up for I might be a while."

**XxX**

Sasuke closed the door to the room with an audible thud. He had informed Kakashi of his concerns and what he was doing to address them. The girl had seemed puzzled but had picked up on it, he wasn't sure about the genin but that barely mattered at the moment. Someone was eavesdropping on them and whoever it was, was good. Unfortunately for them... he was better. Pressing himself against the wall of the lobby he made his way rapidly towards the balcony.

That was where he encountered his first problem. The balcony was lighted. Their eavesdropper had possibly placed themselves on the canopy beside their room, making it impossible for him to sneak up on them. The only thing in his favor at the moment was the element of surprise.

He probably won't be able to avoid detection, but if he played this right that shouldn't matter because by then he'd be close enough for that to not matter.

He braced himself to jump into the balcony which will bring him into visual contact with the person spying on them.

But just as he was about to he heard a low thud.

'Great.' He thought to himself. He had been detected before he even got to see the spy. Dropping all pretense of stealth he rushed forward into the balcony just in time to see a figure clad in black running along the roof of the building adjacent to the resthouse.

Jumping on the railing he channeled chakra to his feet and propelled himself to give chase.

With a single leap he had halved the distance between himself and the perpetrator.

It was a moonless night and the black clothes of the retreating figure not to mention the several yards of distance they had already managed to put between them would have put anyone else chasing at a distinct disadvantage.

Sasuke wasn't anyone else. Activating his sharingan on landing, he didn't have a problem tracking the figure as they made their way along the rooftops.

The figure was fast, he had to admit but slowly and surely he was gaining on them.

The spy probably realized it too because the next thing he knew he was dodging shuriken thrown his way. He didn't have the time to block them and he was going too fast to effectively move out of the way, so he did the only thing he could do in this situation. Reflexively he dropped to his and executed a front-roll as the projectiles flew harmlessly overhead.

Sasuke cursed under his breath as he realized that was their aim. For the split-second that he lost visual of his quarry allowed them to put several more yards between them.

It took him a couple of seconds to relocate the spy who was now descending down the building using the plumbing to slide now instead of running over the rooftops. Once they got down all that needed to be done was to lose the ninja attire and mix with the civilian crowd. After that nothing short of a sensor will be able to track them. A luxury he didn't have.

Knowing that his window to apprehend them had just gotten a whole lot smaller he did the only sane thing left to do. He jumped. On his way down he saw the eyes of his quarry widen with disbelief at his audacity.

Twisting in mid-air so as to keep his eye on the spy he held out both hands to come in contact with the walls of the building. Channeling chakra to his limbs he managed to slow his slide to a stop about twenty feet off the ground. Removing his hands so that now he stood parallel to the ground below in a fairly spectacular gravity-defying feat he took his combat stance and directed a smirk at his opponent.

Gotcha!

For the first time since the chase began Sasuke finally got a good luck at their spy. Covered head-to-toe in a black garb the only visible portion of the body were the rather apprehensive brown eyes glaring at him.

But going by the way they were built the only things he could be sure of was that it was definitely a woman and she was definitely a ninja.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, "And why were you spying on us?"

Sasuke's words seemed to galvanize her into action as she renewed her efforts to get away by changing directions and running towards the edge of the building instead of towards the ground like she was initially.

Anticipating her actions Sasuke moved to intercept her. In the blink of an eye he had overtaken her and blocked her way.

But he had underestimated her 'cause she didn't hesitate to attack him. Only the precognitive abilities of the sharingan allowed him to keep his head as she executed double handed strike to the sides of his neck, if successful it'd have rendered him unconscious.

Sasuke managed to get his defences up just in time to block by raising his arms. He snapped a retaliatory kick which connected to her chest. It should've incapacitated her but she had jumped back in the nick of time to absorb the blow. She tried to put some distance between, but Sasuke was having none of it as he pursued her and engaged her in taijutsu.

She was competent he had to admit and she put up an admirable defence but he had way too many advantages and he wouldn't be denied.

Catching one of her counter-strikes he twisted her arm. She tried to get out of it by twisting the rest of her body and once again Sasuke was ready as he twisted his own in the opposite direction negating her maneouver and now holding her in a secure arm-lock.

But just when he thought he had subdued her for good, she turned around and all of a sudden Sasuke experienced a burning in his eyes he had never felt before.

Momentarily panicking he loosened his hold on her and was rewarded with a kick to the face. It was all he could do to maintain his chakra control to avoid falling down.

He put up his guard waiting for the follow-up attack which never came.

He cursed himself for his stupidity, she was trying to escape him not get into a slug-fest with him.

Blinking rapidly to clear his eyesight he saw a blurry vision of the dark clad ninja standing with her back to him.

Sasuke was confused. Why was she still here? He expected her to have used the opportunity to escape, but something had obviously stopped her. Focusing harder the reason became clear in the form of an orange blur standing in her way.

Naruto.

He saw her reach for the belt around her waist and drew out two curved blades. Then to his surprise the blades caught fire. Blue flames flickered around the edges before stabilizing to become mere extensions of the weapons.

Elemental recomposition was a high-level skill. They weren't dealing with a novice here. As much as it galled him to admit it his opponent was better than he had anticipated.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you." Kakashi's lazy drawl had never sounded more welcoming even though he would walk barefoot through the flaming depths of makai before admitting it out loud.

He saw the enemy ninja turn towards the jounin who was standing on top of the building, hands in his pockets his posture slouched as if he was in a social gathering and not in the middle of a stand-off.

The kunoichi looked like she wanted to take her chances with him as she tensed, primed to attack.

"Going by how you're hesitating you clearly know who I am. So you must know that even if you somehow get close enough to use your toys and I'm not saying you will, you'll only end up humiliating yourself." Kakashi continued, "You've done an admirable job so far but fighting me won't do your self-respect any good," Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man's boast, "so why don't you do yourself a favor and surrender."

"Two against one are hardly unfavorable odds, considering all I have to do is escape," The kunoichi spoke for the first time, "You're here on official business and I'm sure you wouldn't want to create a scene by starting a fight."

"If you're going to gamble you need better cards kid," Kakashi drawled, "Whatever scene we create will pale in the face of us apprehending an unknown shinobi, operating under mysterious circumstances, working for kami knows who." Kakashi moved closer to them now sticking to the walls of the building instead of the roof, "So are you going to come peacefully? In which case we'll have a chat, maybe some snacks to go with the tea the resthouse provides and depending on what you tell us, I might even let you go your way once I'm satisfied."

"And what if I decide to take my chances?" She questioned taking a cautious step back.

"In which case we'll capture you and you will come with us anyway. The chat we have then won't be half as pleasant and once we're done with you we will hand you over to authorities." Kakashi said, "between the two of us the Commander is kind of a dick and not very fond of shinobi. So feel free to take your nonexistent chances but I wouldn't recommend it."

The kunoichi seemed to be considering Kakashi's offer and a part of Sasuke wanted her to refuse if only to have the satisfaction of seeing her bite the dust for the agony she had just put him through.

But it was not to be as she sighed in defeat and the flames on her blades died. She then proceeded to sheathe them back in their holsters.

"Smart move." Kakashi remarked.

**XxX**

"Stop moving Sasuke-kun," Sakura admonished him as she washed his eyes to rid them of whatever that witch had used.

"I'll like to see you try and stay still when someone is poking at your eyes." Sasuke said irritably.

"Well I wouldn't have to poke at your eyes if you didn't get yourself in this situation now would I?" Sakura retorted, "Now be still I'm almost done."

Sasuke endured the rest of his suffering in silence. He couldn't believe he let that kunoichi get the better of him. He had done everything right. He had pursued her and had even successfully intercepted her but just when he was about to subdue her she had managed to catch him off-guard. Not by using an advanced jutsu but by blinding him using a powder made from ground chillies and pepper. The part of him not smarting from this humiliation couldn't help admire her deviousness.

"There! all done." Sakura declared wiping the corners of his eyes, "The swelling will go down in a few minutes, the redness should recede by morning. Can't do much about the burning sensation in your eyes."

"I can live with it." He said, not wanting to show how much it was agonizing him. But the one thing hurting him more than his eyes was his pride. It would be a reminder of how far he had to go. 'He' would have never let himself be caught off-guard like that.

"Are you okay Sasuke-kun?" His displeasure must have been evident on his face for the girl to call him out on it.

"I'm fine." He said shortly forcing himself to relax, "let's go and join Kakashi. I want to know what she has to say."

He couldn't wait to start on her. He was hoping she wouldn't cooperate. Give him the excuse to extract some payback.

**XxX**

Kakashi flipped a page. This was the best part of the story in his opinion. Keito had just saved female slaves from being sold into a life of servitude using an extremely elaborate plan. And now came the scene when over a dozen gorgeous women expressed their gratitude for him.

Just the mere anticipation of what was coming next...

"Are you seriously giggling Kakashi?" Demanded his rather loud and blonde subordinate.

"Hmmm?" He responded, keeping his annoyance in check at being interrupted at such a crucial point, "I don't know what you're talking about Naruto-kun."

"Like hell you don't." Naruto had gotten to his feet and was pointing his index finger rather accusingly at him, "You were reading that book and giggling so creepily it was giving me goosebumps."He pulled back the sleeves of his jacket to demonstrate, " Not to mention you are making her really uncomfortable." He said pointing a thumb to the still-masked kunoichi he had managed to convince to come in for a chat.

Kakashi considered ignoring the blonde genin, but his mood had been utterly killed. It seemed Keito's orgy would have to wait. Mentally apologizing to the book for abandoning it he replaced it in his vest.

"So lets start with the basics shall we?" Kakashi addressed her, "Why were you spying on us?"

"Wait." Naruto raised a hand interrupting the conversation before the kunoichi could reply, "Aren't you going to ask her to take off her mask?"

"It doesn't bother me." Kakashi said.

"Well it bothers me."

"I wear a mask."

"Yeah, but I always assume that's 'cause you're deformed or ugly or something. Why is she wearing one?"

"I'll take off the mask," The kunoichi said flatly glaring venomously at them, "If you just stop talking."

"Well," He said, "Lets get it over with then shall we?"

Sighing in defeat she lowered her face mask to reveal a delicate looking mouth and brown hair.

"Its you!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You know her?" Kakashi couldn't help being surprised.

"She is that Taro guy's secretary." Naruto said.

"Yes, for months I have been working here undercover," The now unmasked kunoichi said, "When I saw Konoha ninja snooping around I must admit I got... curious."

"What possible assignment could a Fire Cadet have in a sleepy town like Sumer?"

Kakashi had wanted to catch her off-balance with that question and he wasn't disappointed. She visibly flinched.

"How did you..."

"Those blades of yours are a dead-giveaway."

The fire cadets were the apprentice-shinobi to the twelve guardian ninjas. While the guardians confined themselves to the capital to protect the Daimyo and his interests, the fire cadets were a lot more mobile and were deployed across the country to complete various clandestine missions. If they proved themselves to be good enough they got to succeed the guardians in the event of a vacancy in the form of a death or a retirement. They were some of the best shinobi in the land and he wasn't surprised at her getting the better of Sasuke, who, while being a superior combatant had underestimated his foe.

The kunoichi's arm twitched, but Kakashi disregarded the gesture.

There was another interruption, this time by Sasuke and Sakura as they made their way into the room evidently done treating the Uchiha's eyes, which now looked bloodshot.

"Not a word," He hissed at Naruto who, going by the smirk playing on his lips looked ready to fire a witty remark.

"I really wanted to avoid bringing them out," she admitted ignoring the interruption, "But when you're up against Hatake Kakashi, holding back is just all kinds of stupid."

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me," he said waving off the not so subtle compliment, "but don't let that stop you."

"Do you know where the girl is?" Sasuke demanded and Kakashi suppressed a weary sigh at his impatience. It had always been Sasuke's greatest strength and weakness.

Give him an objective and he will find a way to complete it. But he lacked the fortitude to dig deeper. To look for answers to questions he didn't know to ask.

It made him an effective assassin but a poor interrogator.

"No I don't." The kunoichi shook her head.

"Then you're no good to us are you?" Sasuke for some reason looked unreasonably happy. Kakashi could tell by the sudden gleam that had entered his eyes.

"I can however tell you that Taro was probably the last man to see her before she went missing."

"And you know this for certain?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh yes," She said, "She came by the day she disappeared to talk to him."

"And why doesn't anyone else know of this meeting?" Kakashi prodded.

"The girl had been sneaky as sneaky as an ANBU," came the reply, "and I bet she used the maintenance area to get there, where people are often too busy to pay attention to strays."

"And you know this how?"

"Because she didn't go past the front desk," She shrugged, "I'd have known, I sit there. The only reason I know this at all is because I heard them arguing in his chambers when I got up for a bathroom break."

"Her friend did say that she was going to convince Taro to break up their engagement," Sakura said leaning across to speak in his ear, "for some reason she didn't think Taro would take it all that well."

"That is an understatement," the kunoichi scoffed blatantly ignoring Sakura's attempt to be covert, "the guy has a half-inch fuse and it has only become shorter lately especially after the latest consignment to Kusa was attacked by bandits. Not only did he lose the goods, he also lost three good men. His father wasn't happy and ripped him a new one and he has been taking it out on his employees ever since."

"Was this consignment by any chance transported the same day the girl went missing?" Naruto asked and Kakashi had to admire his leap of logic.

"Well well what do you know he is smarter than he looks," The comment earned a snort from Sasuke and even Sakura was now hiding a smile behind her fingers. Naruto however didn't look amused and looked ready to tear into her.

"So you knew all this and didn't come forward?" Kakashi said before Naruto could derail the conversation.

"I was never questioned." She shrugged carelessly, "And ratting out my employer would have jeopardized my cover."

"You don't seem to have a problem now," Sasuke sneered at her.

"Well we are a little past that aren't we?" She said nonchalantly, "Besides, while I couldn't care less about your mission I see no reason to not be honest here."

Kakashi's mind began racing. The girl had gone to him in order to convince him to cancel their engagement and going by what he'd just been told, Taro hadn't taken it well and they had ended up arguing.

These were the facts. Anything past this point would be speculation.

Then something Naruto had said struck his mind.

"You just said the last consignment of goods to leave the town was on the same day as the girl's disappearance." Kakashi addressed the girl. "Is that correct?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking Kakashi?" Sasuke said.

"I don't know what you're thinking Sasuke." Kakashi said, "But I believe now we know why the girl was never found. Its something Naruto had already guessed and now has been confirmed by our guest."

"So Taro is responsible for Miyuki's disappearance." Sakura ventured timidly.

"Disappearance maybe even murder."

"So now what?" Sasuke scowled heavily, "The girl's dead, we can tell her parents, get the dirtbag arrested and be on our way. Mission complete."

"Not so fast." Kakashi said suppressing his annoyance with Sasuke, "We can't prove any of this. Not yet anyway." He turned to the girl again, "Where do you keep the record of all your exports?"

"There is a room by the warehouse where the books are kept and maintained."

"I guess it'd be too much for me to expect you to have the keys to that."

"Sorry to disappoint." She didn't sound sorry at all, "But no."

"Well in that case you're leading us there tonight." He said thoroughly enjoying the changing colors in her face.

"You mean helping you break into the Mishima warehouse?" She demanded.

"You make it sound like a felony..."

"Because it is."

"But yeah basically."

"Next to the militia cantonment that warehouse is the most secure place in Sumer and under a constant twenty-four hour guard under the protection of the Daimyo's forces." She argued waving her arms on agitation, "You can't just break into that place and I'm not risking my mission for yours."

"You risked your mission the moment you decided to spy on us." Kakashi wasn't in the mood to relent, "You know the place, you know the layout and most importantly you know the kind of security the place has and where those records are kept. So like it or not you will help us."

"And if I refuse?"

"May I have a word with you Kakashi?" Naruto interjected annoying Kakashi who was on a roll.

"Can't this wait?" He didn't bother hiding his irritation this time. The expression on the genin's face however gave him a pause. It was speculative and a little calculating and that intrigued him enough to quash his annoyance.

"How important is it for us to break into this warehouse?"

"Fairly important I'd say."

A sheepish grin broke out on Naruto's face as he spoke his next words, "What if I told you I may have found a way to get what you want without so much as having to move from this room."

Sasuke scoffed mockingly and Sakura's eyes narrowed suspiciously while their 'guest' seemed even more guarded than usual. Kakashi ignored them all.

"If you're telling me that." Kakashi said throwing an arm around the genin's shoulder, "Then you Naruto are my new best friend."

**A/N: Well you know the drill. Do what you've gotta do.**


	7. The Missing Damsel-III

**A/N: I wanted to end this on a cliffhanger. But considering my sporadic rates of updates I decided against it. Cruelty does have its limits after all. Hope you enjoy it. **

**The Missing Damsel-III**

"What if I told you I may have found a way to get what you want without so much as having to move from this room?"

Sasuke scoffed mockingly and Sakura's eyes narrowed suspiciously while their 'guest' seemed even more guarded than usual. Kakashi ignored them all.

"If you're telling me that." Kakashi said throwing an arm around the genin's shoulder, "Then you Naruto are my new best friend."

**Four hours ago**

**Location: Mishima warehouse**

The uniformed men worked with a kind of monotonous diligence that their job demanded. One of them was holding a clipboard and held himself with an air of superiority over the rest of the grunts. He studied the catalogue in his hand with a rather perplexed expression.

"Wait a minute!" He exclaimed gaining the attention of the workers around him. "Why is there an extra crate here?" He kicked the offensive 'crate' with his foot.

"Who knows!" One of the workers said, not really caring.

"This is unacceptable!" He seethed, "Someone fucked up!"

"What's the big deal?" The worker who had spoken up before said a little irritably, "Its just one crate, maybe someone at the customs forgot to log it in?"

"Well then remove it from here." The supervisor barked, when no one moved to do it he lost his already fragile patience, "Well? What's the problem?" He spat.

"Look man the customs office is already closed." The worker pleaded, "If we went through the proper channels and waited for things to be cleared we would have to keep it out. Who knows what's in it? And if its something precious do you really want to be the one to take it up with the boss."

The supervisor scowled heavily but after thinking it over for minute finally relented.

"Fine." He snapped, "Move it in, but it is going to the customs the first thing tomorrow."

Two of the workers picked up the unmarked container and moved it into the warehouse not even bothering to hide the relief from their faces.

An hour later when the workers had retired for the night leaving the warehouse seemingly abandoned, the mysterious crate all but out of their minds.

Within minutes the sun had set leaving the warehouse in darkness. It was then that in a burst of smoke the crate turned into the prone figure of Uzumaki Naruto. Getting to his feet he stretched to relieve himself of the cramps that were beginning to set in his body. He was lucky that the workers didn't look too close or it might've ended rather badly. As it was he was almost found out. Still he had gotten in and that was half the job done. Now he had to scope the place out and look for anything that might be of interest to the boss.

He hadn't been specific when he created him after all. So, it was all he had.

Sighing to himself the clone made his way into the warehouse which was as intimidating as it was massive if only because of the magnitude of the task in front of him.

This promised to be a pain in the ass.

**XxX**

Naruto didn't think of himself as a gloating man. Though to be fair he didn't really get too many chances. So he really couldn't be blamed for making the most of the few opportunities he did get, in his opinion. Judging by the baffled expression on the face of his teammates, probably not Kakashi… who could really tell behind that mask and Sasuke's scowl actually showed no signs of relaxing, Sakura raised a single eyebrow at his declaration.

This reaction for some reason felt extremely subdued to him.

"You're telling us that you managed to sneak a clone in the warehouse transformed as an unmarked crate." Sasuke said not bothering to keep the skepticism out of his voice.

"What can I say?" Naruto shrugged, "I'm very convincing."

Sasuke probably wanted to say more but was once again interrupted, this time by their reluctant guest, "Well that certainly simplifies matters." She said cheerfully getting to her feet, "Looks like you won't be needing me after all."

"Not so fast." Kakashi said stopping the kunoichi who was in the process of turning the doorknob, "You need to tell us exactly what we are looking for where we should be looking for it?"

"Fine." The woman said petulantly as she returned to her seat, "The records are kept in the southern sector of the warehouse. It is the only room with a green door so you really shouldn't have any problems getting there."

"Anything else we should know?" Naruto interjected at this point.

"The records are catalogued by their dates of dispatch so the files should be at the bottom shelves." She rolled her eyes as she continued, "The older, more obsolete files are regularly incinerated to avoid too much cluttering but considering the files you're looking for are fairly recent you shouldn't have that problem."

"This is all well and good." Sakura said a little thoughtfully, "But aren't we forgetting something?"

"And what would that be?" Naruto said.

"How are you going to get this information to your clone?"

Naruto could scarcely believe his luck. He had planned on being a little more discrete, but another chance to demonstrate just how awesome he was, was almost too tempting to pass up.

Almost.

But then he realized that this might not be the time considering they had a kunoichi in the room whose motivations and loyalties weren't to be trusted. The demonstration of the working mechanics of one of his primary skills might not be the best of ideas.

"I have my ways." He settled for saying instead trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Well it seems like we won't be needing you anymore." Kakashi said turning to the kunoichi, "Thanks for your help, you can leave now."

After trying all night to get away from them it seemed that when they were actively trying to get rid of her, all of a sudden she wasn't all that keen to leave.

"I don't mind sticking around." She said.

"That really isn't up for discussion." Kakashi said figuring out what she was up to, "So either you get out or we take that trip to the Commander's office."

"Can't blame a girl for trying." She said cheekily getting to her feet. "For what it's worth I really do hope that you find her."

"You better not be screwing us on this." Sasuke called out to her stopping her as she placed her hand on the door handle, "Or I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down."

"Gee dramatic much?" Naruto retorted once the kunoichi had left, "'I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down.'" Naruto said in a poor imitation of Sasuke, complete with an exaggerated scowl. "You seriously need to lighten up."

Sasuke decided that the best way to deal with the annoying genin was to ignore him altogether. Retaliating only gave him more reasons to open his mouth.

"Was letting her go really such a good idea Kakashi-san?" Sakura questioned, "I mean what if she was lying?"

"She wouldn't lie Sakura." Kakashi said waving off her worries, but then noticing the sceptical look she was throwing him he decided to elaborate, "Or rather I should say she really can't afford to. We just happen to know a little too much about her and keeping her around just to make sure she wasn't lying wasn't worth risking operational security over."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked puzzled.

Kakashi in response merely turned to Naruto, who merely shrugged and brought his hands together for a seal. A puff of smoke caused Sakura to nearly jump off the chair in surprise and even Sasuke struggled to keep his carefully maintained composure on seeing the appearance of a doppelganger of the genin.

The clone on his part looked a little resigned already aware of his fate.

"I wish there was another way." Naruto told the clone, his tone just a little apologetic.

"No you don't." The clone sighed, "Just get this over with."

Giving him a solemn nod Naruto slugged him in the head dispelling him.

"There." He said making a show of dusting his hands, "Problem solved."

"What the hell was that all about?" Sakura said giving voice to Sasuke's thoughts on the matter after a few seconds of stunned silence.

"That, my friends was the Shadow clone jutsu." Naruto said waving his arms like a showman demonstrating a trick. "And the reason for our success in this mission."

"Let's not count those chickens just yet." Kakashi said earning a pout from the genin, "But yes, this might be the break we needed to proceed with this mission."

Sasuke had to admit he was more than a little baffled as his mind struggled to dredge up the information from its innermost depths. The shadow-clone jutsu was an incredibly chakra-extensive technique. He had come across it during his early days in the ANBU and had decided against making it a part of his repertoire. Unlike other clone techniques which were elemental in nature the shadow clone jutsu was entirely a chakra construct. Theoretically that also allowed the clone to use ninjutsu-techniques, something the other variants were incapable of.

However the immense chakra required to use the jutsu coupled with the rather fragile nature of the clones themselves made it a double-edged sword, often proving more detrimental to the user than the one it was used against.

It was no surprise that it was classified as a forbidden jutsu. To see a genin not only use the technique but to maintain it for hours, Sasuke had to admit was rather impressive... and intriguing. However the utility of the shadow clone technique went beyond its combat capabilities.

"That still doesn't explain how that clone of yours will know what to do." Sakura folded her arms.

"That clone I created," Naruto explained, "had all of my memories including the knowledge of the plans we made. When I popped it I transferred memories of those plans to it."

"That's... convenient." Sakura said her voice, tinged with admiration.

"You've no idea."

"So now what?" Sasuke demanded.

"Now we wait." Kakashi said fishing out his book and putting an end to further conversations.

**Location: Mishima Warehouse**

The clone froze for a second interrupting his work as he processed the influx of memories. It took him a while to get to single out the memory which would tell him how to proceed.

The boss, it seemed had a rather eventful evening. Still he couldn't complain. Anything that made his job easier was something he could live with.

It didn't take him long to find the room and even less to pick the lock. The room was dark and musty and smelled of old papers. The kunoichi had said something about the obsolete documents being discarded and seeing the rows of shelves crammed with tens of thousands of files, he was beginning to doubt those claims.

The boss was sure to have a headache by the time he was done, he thought to himself dryly as he made his way to the shelves.

This was going to be a long night.

Sasuke Uchiha was no stranger to playing the waiting game. He would even go so far to say that he was rather good at it. The hours he spent scoping a target, waiting for the right time to strike had improved his patience tenfold since his days as a genin... and yet he could barely contain his restlessness now.

It wasn't easy for him to give up the control of a situation to someone else. His mood was further soured by the fact that the control of the situation now lay with an idiot, who was drooling with his head hanging back over a chair his feet resting on the table as he napped. Even the fangirl had lost the battle against sleep and was now stretched out on the couch, leaving him and Kakashi to hold the fort... so to speak. The jounin had told him to get some sleep, but he had ignored the advice and it wasn't brought up again.

At this moment only Kakashi's presence and the fact that his actions would force him to interact with the infuriating blonde had prevented him from grabbing a hold of him by the collar and demand what was taking so long.

"You really need to learn to relax Sasuke-kun." The jounin drawled, seemingly registering his restlessness, "Its not good for the nerves."

"It is rather hard for me to relax when the success of a mission relies on... that." He retorted pointing to the genin's drooling figure.

"You really don't have a lot of faith in your team do you?" Kakashi said, "And I thought you didn't care about the mission."

"It's not my team." He snapped, "And you seem to have a little too much faith in them." He decided to ignore the barb about caring about the mission.

"A leader needs to trust his team…" Kakashi said,

"And have his team trust him and each other if they're to be an effective and productive unit."Sasuke interrupted irritably, "Shinobi Code, Section C, sub-section C3, sub-sub-section C3.6. I have it memorized thank you very much. I just don't find it holding much water. I operate best when I'm working alone. I neither need nor want a team to hold me back."

"The fact that you failed to learn that lesson is my failure as a teacher."

That quip stung Sasuke a little more than he was willing to admit. When Kakashi had been assigned as his ANBU mentor, he came as close to being… happy? No, that wasn't the right sentiment. Happiness wasn't an emotion he related with anymore. But it was as close as he ever was going to get. He had absorbed everything Kakashi had to teach him. He was diligent and worked hard. There was even a time when he actively tried to make the man proud of him, as much as it galled him to admit it now.

And on the day when it mattered the most, Kakashi had betrayed him.

"So in order to beat the lesson home you decided to saddle me with a fangirl and a drop-out?" He asked him failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice, "That's a little low even by your standards." When that failed to extract a reaction from the jounin, Sasuke tried to a more direct approach, "Why am I here Kakashi?"

"I thought that was obvious." Came the reply, "We're here to find a missing girl and if possible try and return her to her family... try and keep up will you?"

"Cut the bullshit Kakashi." Sasuke snarled, "You didn't need me for this. I hunt missing-nin, not civilian girls who got lost on their way home from grandma's house. So why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

For the first time since the conversation started Kakashi looked up from his book to look at him. His initial feeling of jubilation at finally getting a reaction from the masked man was quelled by the look Kakashi directed at him. It was one of disappointment mixed with pity.

Sasuke hated that look

"What you're in the mood for has no bearing on your orders." Kakashi said, "Get it out of your head that I owe you something or the world owes you something. Here's news for you kid... you aren't nearly as important as you believe yourself to be.

You are a shinobi and I am your superior. I give orders and you follow them that's all you will ever need to know." Kakashi turned back to his book, "Remember a soldier is good to his commander only as long as he follows orders."

Through all the outrage at the dressing down he was being subjected to a part of Sasuke couldn't help admiring the way it was delivered. He never raised his voice and his voice remained sans inflections throughout.

"Ow my neck." The blonde genin chose the moment to wake up massaging the back of his neck and Sasuke couldn't have been gladder for the interruption. The chair he was on creaked in protest at his motions. On the couch even Sakura was beginning to stir.

"Anything?" Kakashi inquired.

The blonde shook his head, "My clone couldn't find so much as a post-it note let alone logs or files of the day's events."

"Are you sure your clone was reliable?" Sasuke commented bitterly.

"He would have looked longer but the workers were starting to pour in." Naruto stretched cracking his spine and then yawned heavily, "Though I am beginning to think that the files were never there in the first place."

"Are you saying the kunoichi lied?" Kakashi queried.

"No, I am saying that someone definitely removed them." Naruto mumbled sleepily as he made his way to the bathroom, only to find it locked occupied by Sakura.

"That was a colossal waste of time." Sasuke observed, "So, now what?"

"Breakfast." Naruto replied as he leaned by the bathroom door waiting for his teammate to be done, "I am absolutely famished."

**XxX**

"So another dead end." Sakura munched on her roll thoughtfully as Naruto scarfed down his breakfast.

"I won't go as far to say that." Naruto said pausing to swallow, "If anything this just confirms that he is hiding something."

"But we aren't getting anywhere with this." Sasuke said irritably.

Kakashi had to admit that Sasuke had a point. Their current approach would yield results... eventually. But time wasn't a luxury they had. They needed to get things moving fast and there seemed to be only one way to do it.

"Well maybe its time Taro Mishima was paid another visit."

"Yeah... about that." Naruto said, "Don't know how to break this to you but I doubt will agree to seeing us again."

"Who says he will have a choice?"

Kakashi had finally taken off the shackles. Or rather it would be closer to say that he had relaxed his hold on the proverbial leash. The basic rules still applied, don't antagonize the law enforcement, keep property damage to the minimum and above all, don't get caught. But now he was finally allowed to do what they should have been doing all along.

The only downside to the whole thing was he had once again been partnered with the blonde idiot. Kakashi had insisted on it when he had protested, telling him, that since Naruto had already been there he would know the layout and what to expect.

Sasuke had just wanted to kick in the front door and torture the information out of the guy. But even he had to admit that would attract unnecessary attention.

So they waited in the lobby until he called on one of his subordinates to chew on. The blonde idiot had said they wouldn't have to wait long.

"Trust me." He said waving off his concerns, "This guy gets off on putting down his employees. It's a sure thing. Do keep an eye out for the security though. Kakashi told us to be as discrete as possible."

"And how would we know we know which one to follow?"

"Keep an eye out for anyone who is making his way towards the general direction of his office looking like they are walking into an execution chamber."

Sasuke had to fight the impulse to throttle the blonde.

"That one." He said drawing his attention to a morose looking guy. "Do your thing Uchiha."

Sasuke walked up to the guy and just as he turned a corner out of everbody's line if sight he bumped into him. One sleep genjutsu and henge later he was the one walking to the office of their suspect. Naruto walked from the opposite side catching the guy before he collapsed on the floor and discretely moved him away to the washrooms.

The process took less than fifteen seconds.

"Come in." A gruff voice said in response to his knock. Sasuke allowed himself a smile of satisfaction as he walked in locking the door behind him.

Sasuke ignored the opulence of the office in favour of studying the man. He was seated and yet to look up to him, engrossed in the file in his hands, obviously trying to make him sweat.

The tactic would have impressed him if he was an employee. As it happened right now he was just amused. But he was wasting time here. He allowed himself one more second to savor the hell he was about to subject his victim to before dropping his henge. He walked up to the man and had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen in surprise when he looked up. Sasuke then proceeded to unceremoniously drag him out of his chair over the table and threw him on the wall.

The man seemed so surprised that he barely reacted when Sasuke kicked him back to the floor as he tried to get to his feet. Placing his foot on his chest to keep him pinned Sasuke decided to get to work.

"What did you do with the girl?"

The man had finally gotten over his shock and now glared at him defiantly.

"Who are you?" He snarled, "And what the hell are you doing here?"

"I will be asking the questions here." Sasuke pushed him to the ground a little harder as his victim tried to impotently dislodge his foot from his chest.

"Why am I not surprised?" The voice of his genin teammate beckoned him.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said annoyed by the blonde's presence. He was supposed to be the look-out.

"I knew you'd do something like this the moment Kakashi took off your leash." He said relocking the door behind him. "I am here to tell you that what you're doing isn't necessary."

"Thanks for the advice," Sasuke retorted, "but I've got this. Now get out of here and let me work."

"He didn't kill her."

That declaration gave him a pause. What game was he playing now?

"Get out of here Uzumaki." He growled, "You're wasting my time.

"Look at his hand." The genin insisted. Something about the no nonsense tone in his voice compelled Sasuke to do it.

"What about them?"

"He is wearing his engagement ring." The blonde said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And how is that significant?"

"I will explain after you let him up." He sighed as if he couldn't believe Sasuke's stupidity. "It wouldn't do to kill our only lead now would it?"

Sure enough Mishima's face was now beginning to turn interesting colours due to lack of oxygen.

Rather reluctantly Sasuke removed his foot and immediately the man started gasping and coughing trying to get his breath back.

"What's the meaning of this Uzumaki?" Sasuke demanded, "I thought we were clear on the plan of action."

"That was before new information came to light."

"And what information is that?"

"He is not the bad guy."

A few minuted later the Mishima heir had recovered enough to talk coherently, though at the moment he was glaring balefully at the two shinobi in his office. Sasuke had to admit the guy was no coward. He was wary of them but he wasn't showing any signs of fear. That would've changed if he had a few more minutes but it was not to be.

"Why shouldn't I take this up with the Commander?" He finally said, "And have you thrown in jail for trespassing assaulting me and not to mention assaulting me."

"Empty threats Mishima-san." Naruto replied, "Considering what we know that really won't be a good idea."

"And what would that be?"

"The fact that you're responsible for Mei Arisawa's disappearance."

"You have no proof."

"The fact you're not denying it is proof enough." Naruto said, "But I also know that you never hurt her. So believe it ir not we are the only people who can help you right now."

Taro's head shot up when he heard that. The image of the stubborn, defiant man remained for a second longer, before he sighed in defeat and possibly relief.

"She came to me that day." He said, his head bowed, "Asking me, pleading me to call off the marriage."

"You refused." Sasuke remarked.

"I did." Taro nodded, "I told her that refusal on my part won't look good for my family and so I couldn't... I wouldn't do it."

"But she said she had thought of everything." Taro continued, "She would run away from home. I tried to convince her that while it wouldn't hurt my family's reputation it would destroys hers."

"She was hoping her reputation will play its part." Naruto interjected.

"No one would believe that she would hurt her family like that and everyone will assume that she was kidnapped." Taro agreed. "She was aware of the shipments we were sending out to Kusa and asked me to help her get out of town using one of them."

"And you helped her." Sasuke said sceptical about the turn of events. "Just like that?"

"You have no idea what she's like do you?" The Mishima heir laughed bitterly, "You can't help but be helpless before her. She's extremely good at having you seeing things from her side."

Taro then went on to describe how he helped her into one of the crates by having her hide in the warehouse till the caravan was ready to move and eventually helped her out of Sumer with none the wiser.

"The entire town went mad searching for her, but I wasn't worried. I thought she was safe until two days later when I got news about how the merchandise was attacked and I lost not only my men but also my fiancee."

"Why didn't you tell this to anyone?" Sasuke demanded.

Taro looked at him incredulously, "And implicate myself in her disappearance? No, it was too late for that. No one would believe me."

"So why should we?" Sasuke asked.

Taro gaped like a fish suddenly aware of the situation he was in.

"I believe you."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger but refrained from speaking out.

"So now what?" Taro questioned.

**XxX**

A few minutes later when they were making their way back to the resthouse to report the new developments to Kakashi, Sasuke took the oppurtunity to get some of his concerns across to the blonde genin.

Hence their current position with the blonde's back to the wall and Sasuke's hand holding him up by the collar of his jacket.

"What the hell Uchiha?" He shouted.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut you right now." He growled.

"Well then you better give me a reason why you want to gut me in the first place." He managed to scoff despite his predicament,"Unless you're having a psychotic break that is, which I really wouldn't find surprising."

"Why did you interrupt my interrogation?" He got straight to the point.

"Wasn't it obvious?" He said, "You were about to put thumb-tacks on the guy when he clearly did nothing to deserve them, and last I checked torturing a civilian is strictly against protocol."

"Last I checked disobeying your superior was against protocol and yet here we are." With a jerk he let go of the genin, who massaged his throat while glaring at him.

"What made you think he wasn't guilty?" He asked his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Like I said, he was wearing his engagement ring." He said,"Unless you're a psychopath you wouldn't hold on to the memento of the one you killed. Infact I think he might even be in love with her."

As far as explanations went that was an acceptable one and yet there were things that needed to be made clear.

"Since it got the result we wanted I am willing to overlook your insubordination." He told him radiating just a bit of killer intent to better emphasize his point, "But get in my way again and I won't hold back."

To his surprise however his threat wasn't met with any trepidation let alone the fear he had expected to incite.

"As long as we're making threats." He said plastering an ironic smile on his face, even as his blue eyes turned cold as ice "This was your only freebie. Touch me like that again and you'll find that holding back is the last thing you need to worry about."

**XxX**

Kakashi was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. When the Hokage had asked him to reassemble Team 7 and had even shortlisted the candidates for it he had jumped at the chance.

Individually all of them were exceptional in their own way, if a little inexperienced. But as he had learnt that the success of a mission was more often than not dependant on how well all the members of a team worked together rather than their individual brilliance.

It was a lesson he had learnt the hard way.

Unfortunately his current team didn't seem to be in a hurry to become a competent/cohesive unit any time soon.

His apprehensions only magnified when the two boys returned. It wasn't obvious. But to him the tension between the two was thick enough to cut with a knife.

He just hoped they would retain their professionalism or the Hokage's plan would be doomed before it even began.

"Report." Kakashi ordered.

With that command Sasuke gave a summarized account of the sequence of events.

"Hence we came to the conclusion that Taro Mishima is innocent of any crimes we may have suspected him of committing." He concluded.

"That is a bit surprising." Sakura commented.

"Indeed it is." Kakashi admitted, " But it really doesn't change anything at the end of the day. Fact remains that Taro Mishima was responsible for Mei Arisawa's disappearance."

"But it's not as if we can have him arrested for that." Naruto said.

"Arresting Taro isn't our job finding and retrieving Mei Arisawa is."

"But from what we know she might be in Kusa if she is even alive." Sasuke interjected, "It's not as if we can carry out an investigation there without starting a diplomatic incident. Allies or no."

"You're right." Kakashi admitted, "Maybe we can't enter Kusa for investigating Mei Arisawa's disappearance." He relished the baffled looks on all of their faces. These were the moments he cherished and lived for. Being one step ahead of everyone around him. "But that doesn't stop us from escorting merchant caravans does it?"

**XxX**

Kakashi's plan involved convincing Taro Mishima to send out another consignment of goods to Kusa.

Needless to say it wasn't going down all that well with the young heir.

"You want me to do what?" Taro demanded, his eyes flashing with anger.

"You heard me Mishima-san." Kakashi said addressing the agitated heir rather benignly.

He decided it was time he took matters into his own hands. Leaving things to Naruto and Sasuke again would not have been a good idea. The two seemed to develop an aversion to each other the more time they spent together, and while he hoped they'd learn to work together expecting them to start doing it immediately would be optimism to the point of foolishness. So he had made an appointment with the man and wasn't long before was shown to the office. Judging by the distrustful gaze of the man he could guess that his last encounter with shinobi hadn't been a pleasant experience.

This could have been so much easier.

"What makes you think I will be willing to risk more of my goods not to mention men in this suicidal venture?" He asked once Kakashi had explained what he wanted to do.

"Because it won't be your people you'd be risking Mishima-san." He said, "It will be mine."

"Are you saying you will escort the next consignment of goods into Kusa?" Taro stared at the jounin speculatively.

"I'll be honest Mishima-san." Kakashi said, "At this point we need your help to proceed. Your fiancee is most probably in Kusa, a land outside of Konoha's jurisdiction. We can't go there and start investigations. But if we are an escort team..."

"It gives you a legitimate reason to be in Kusa." Taro finished.

"I'm glad we understand each other."

"What if I refuse?"

"You're free to do so of course." Kakashi was expecting this, however he had no intention of getting away empty-handed.

"But..." Taro prompted, and Kakashi rather enjoyed his wary tone.

"I'm afraid I'll have to conclude the mission and submit the details of it to the Commander as I have given him my word." He said, "And as reasonable a man he seems to be, I doubt he will take your responsibility in her disappearance well, your money and influence notwithstanding."

But I'm innocent." Taro protested his , "I did nothing wrong."

"You concealed valuable information." Kakashi said, "That alone makes you look guilty."

Taro Mishima sank into himself, looking thoroughly shattered.

"I was just trying to help her." He murmured. "Why is this happening to me?"

Kakashi decided to take pity on him.

"We can still salvage this." He said using his best comforting tone, "If we find her we solve your predicament and complete our mission. But we can't do this without your help."

"Can you even find her after all this time?"

"Maybe not." Kakashi admitted, "But this is our only avenue."

"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice then do I?" He half-laughed and half-sobbed. He fell silent and Kakashi allowed him to think things over as he kept time with the clock hanging on the office wall.

"How do you wish to proceed?" He finally said, and Kakashi couldn't help the smile behind his mask.

**XxX**

Sakura struggled to stay alert as she watched the carriage moving slowly down the road. The monotonous nature of this assignment was really beginning to get to her. Her team had been hired to provide a protection detail to a consignment of textiles being exported to Kusa. Or rather it would have been more accurate to say that they had forced Taro Mishima to hire them so they could have a reason to be there. Before leaving they'd conveyed their intentions to the Commander and had made a quick stop to the Arisawa household. It had caused the mother of their victim to break into tears as her husband held her close and asked them to do whatever they needed to do.

Sakura's mind flashed back to her last mission. It had gone wrong near the Kusa border and now they were walking right into the country. Her fears and apprehensions grew as the journey continued.

"Hey!" A voice snapped breaking jer out of her thoughts, nearly causing her to miss a step.

She turned to glare at Sasuke, who was glaring right back at her from his position on top of a tree branch a few feet above her.

"Keep your head in the game and out of the clouds Haruno."

"I'm fine Sasuke." She said shortly trying not to allow herself to be distracted by the Uchiha's scowling visage and gave a cursory glance to the carriage moving at a sedate pace below them, dragged by two horses.

"You sure?" He said with mock conern.

Sakura decided then that it really wasn't all that hard to ignore his handsome face. All she had to do was focus on his acidic personality.

"Yes, I'm sure." She gritted her teeth as she resumed motion, trying to put some distance between herself and the Uchiha.

Forcing herself to focus on her breathing to calm her nerves determined not to give him another chance to call her out. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Naruto keeping pace with her, sticking out in his orange clothes. His presence in this team still baffled her.

Not that he hadn't been useful. But he was just a genin and in all honesty she'd have rather had another chunin in the squad then an untested genin. His place didn't make any sense, and yet by the looks of it Kakashi had recruited him.

She began to wonder if it was the Hokage's intention to put all the losers in one team. That way if something goes wrong during a mission at least it wouldn't be that big a loss.

Then why was Sasuke here?

He wasn't someone the village would want to lose. He was too precious. Not just because of his talents as a shinobi, but also because of his status as the last of his clan.

It didn't make any sense. There was more going on here then she realized.

They'd just neared the border of Kusa when all of a sudden Kakashi who had taken point in the formation paused, raised a fist, signalling them to stop. The carriage driver too got the message. Sakura waited with bated breath, her muscles taut and ready as she struggled to contain the rush of adrenaline.

The road seemed empty, but the jounin had definitely picked on something.

A few seconds later a carriage not unlike their own rolled down the road from the opposite direction.

But two things syood out about this one. The first it wasn't being drawn by any horses unlike their own.

And second…it was on fire.

"Get back." Kakashi barked to the driver as he watched the carriage rolling towards them. It was an ambush. Wrapping an exploding tag around a kunai he flung it towards the carriage.

It exploded with a resounding boom. All of a sudden the area was swarmed by masked men pouring from either side of the road. They were still some distance away, and Kakashi had managed to avoid walking into the trap.

Kakashi was about to shout some orders when he felt movement in his periphery.

"Sasuke no!" He screamed at his former student as he broke formation and charged into the comimg horde.

"Naruto, Sakura!" He commanded his remaining subordinates, "Guard the carriage", getting a nod from them he was about to charge in to help Sasuke, who had now engaged the enemy, but almost immediately he was forced to change directions to avoid being skewered by a hail of kunai. He wasn't given a chance to recover as he was attacked by two men. Palming a kunai he parried the attacks. Trapping the arm of one, he skewered him through the arm-pit. The second tried to get behind him to decapitate him, but he ducked under the swing and nailed him through the chin. The two, crumbled into piles of earth.

Earth clones.

"That was rude." He observed, keeping his tone light and casual. He wanted to back Sasuke up, but there was a high level shinobi here and he doubted he would be allowed to go help Sasuke.

Well he didn't believe in doing things the easy way anyway.

Sasuke was on his own... for now.

"You're a long way from home Tetsuo of the Black Rock." He said recognizing his opponent who was perched on a tree ten feet off the ground.

The man didn't bother replying and instead went through a series of hand-seals and forcing him to execute a jump-roll to the side, barely avoiding getting skewered by the spikes of earth that had risen from the ground.

His opponent didn't seem to be in the mood for banter.

Well talking was over-rated anyway.

**XxX**

Sasuke wasn't quite sure what went wrong. So they were ambushed by a bunch of bandits. That wasn't a problem.

Or at least it shouldn't have been. He'd even been ready to feel a little sorry for them. That sentiment didn't last long.

Drawing his chokuto while still in motion he charged through the ranks of the bandits. Dodging a swing here, countering a blow there, stab to the kidney, severing the jugular of another. Yet the longer he fought he realized something was wrong.

All of them should be on the ground, writhing in agony if not being dead outright and yet they kept coming back for more.

Only his experience as an Hunter-nin kept him from panicking. Despite their ability to shrug off pain or fatal injuries, they weren't all that fast and he could easily avoid their attacks.

And if stabbing them wasn't enough to stop them, maybe he should see if decapitation works.

But just as he finished that thought kicking away one of the bandits away to gain more space and avoid being surrounded, two of the bandits charged him in a sudden burst of speed. Eyes widening in surprise he parried their blows hastily. Ducking under a blow he slammed the hilt of his blade into the stomach of his opponent. In the same motion he drove the blade into the stomach of the other and almost immediately realized his mistake. The bandit held onto the blade and Sasuke was forced to let go to avoid decapitation by another opportunistic bandit. Rolling backwards he executed a kick catching the bandit under the chin. The force of the blow lifting him off the ground. A split-second later he found himself executing an arm-lock on a bandit trying to skewer him. The next few seconds of the fight passed in a blur and he was beginning to regret his decision of jumping in. There were too many of them and despite being relatively slow they seemed to work together impeccably. Not allowing him any respite to break out his jutsu or any respite.

Almost as if they shared the same brain.

As soon as that thought struck Sasuke, he felt a tugging sensation on his body he had learnt to associate with the substitution technique. He fought it.

"Damn it Sasuke! Its me!" The genin joined the fray, intercepting one behind him and kicking him away.

"Get out of here Uzumaki." Sasuke snarled, ducking another swing and countered by driving his palm into the offender's nose, "I don't have the time to babysit you."

"That's rich." The genin replied just before getting stabbed only to disappear in a burst of smoke, almost immediately another took his place and plunged twin kunai into the neck of the one responsible, before uprooting the head off the shoulders, spraying the nearby area with blood and gore,"And here I thought I was bailing your sorry ass out of trouble." Unlike his efforts this time the bandit didn't get up.

As much as it galled him to admit it, Uzumaki's presence was giving him the required breathing room to allow him to finish the fight. He was currently engaging three of the masked men and had all three on the defensive, while the rest were coming his way. Deciding he had enough he flashed through a series of signs, "Head's up." He said as a way of warning, and spat out a massive, ten feet in diameter, fireball incinerating not only the ones coming his way but also swallowing up Uzumaki and his opponents.

**XxX**

A part of her wanted to jump into the fray and help her team, while the other was dragging her back in lieu of the orders of her superior. This was turning into a disaster. Both the fights had moved away from her line of vision. Kakashi had been engaged by a high level ninja judging by how he was throwing out high level ninjutsu like party favours and that fight had now moved deeper into the woods. Sasuke had broken away early to engage the bandits. After a while despite being ordered to stay with the carriage Naruto had gone to back Sasuke up with a curt, "The Uchiha needs help", and the disappearing in a burst of speed. A part of her couldn't help feeling annoyed and a little betrayed by that.

And now she was here alone guarding the carriage with only a cowering civilian for company. Any other time she'd have tried to offer words of comfort to the man, but as things were she was struggling to hold on to her nerves.

A thud followed by a hissing sound was all the warning she received. But her training and conditioning allowed her to keep her head well enough to react on the spot as she flew off her feet and tackled the carriage driver off the cart just as it exploded.

A howl of pain greeted her ears over the ringing as she realized it was coming from the civilian. A cursory examination showed the cause of the man's agony to be a splinter of wood sticking out of the man's leg.

But she wasn't allowed to dwell on it as she felt a kunai to the back of her head.

Reacting to the threat she immediately dropped down and performed a leg sweep, catching her opponent off-guard, but before she could subdue him completely she felt another unfriendly presence behind her. Executing a side-roll she got to her feet and intercepted the kunai aimed at her abdomen with her own. Fortunately she was more skilled than her opponent and it didn't take long for her to disarm him. Not giving him a chance to recover she knocked him out with a kick to the head. But almost immediately she was engaged once more by another, except this one seemed a tad more skilled. This time it was Sakura who found herself at the receiving end of a vicious kick to her ribs.

Gasping at the loss of air from her lungs, she struggled to keep her wits about herself. Flipping backwards to regain her balance she felt another presence behind her. Quickly flashing hand signs, she managed to substitute herself just in time with nearby rock as the man stabbed it. Her position timely substitution put her behind him and was about to knock him out, when the guy who had kicked her intercepted her. Sakura defenses were beginning to crumble under the assault. Close-combat was not an area she particularly excelled at and her opponent was way better than her. He was an expert in keeping her occupied with the kunai in his hand as he used his other hand to land decisive strikes on her face and abdomen. One particularly vicious strike had her splitting blood. But she remained patient and between his fast strikes, Sakura saw an opportunity to attack, and tried to capitalize on it.

It turned out to be a mistake. It was a trap and Sakura found herself overextended. Her opponent grabbed her arm and twisted it, getting a scream of pain from her and causing her to drop her kunai. The man was in the process of subduing her. But Sakura wasn't ready to give up. The enemy had relaxed his guard and that was all the opening she needed. Executing a reverse somersault with a grunt, she managed to break out of his hold. Making a single hand sign, she spat copious amounts of green poisonous fumes right to the man's face. Her enemy caught completely off-guard inhaled some of it and almost immediately collapsed.

Sakura kept her guard up, her eyes darting around as she scoured for more threats. The only ones in the area were her unconscious enemies and the sobbing carriage driver who was now cradling his leg as a splinter stuck out of it.

Maybe she should take a look at that. But before she could act on that thought, a sudden blow to the back of her neck had her seeing stars as she lost consciousness.

**XxX**

Sakura woke up with a groan. Her head was throbbing. So was her jaw. She even had trouble breathing, probably the blow to the ribs she had taken. Whoever had managed to sneak up on her was good. Better than the three she had defeated. Probably someone way beyond her league. She shifted and found herself rendered immobile courtesy of ninja wire.

Great.

"You're up." An unfamiliar voice broke through her haze of unconsciousness, "I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's just a safety precaution. I hope you understand." This declaration was followed by a few seconds of silence. Sakura was placed face-down on the ground and she struggled to get o her back.

"Sorry, how rude of me." Came the voice, "Here let me help you." She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders as she was turned over before being helped to lean on a rock. Sakura caught the first glimpse of her captor. He was a man probably Kakashi's age, wearing a jounin's vest and a Kusa headband covering his forehead. "Hope that's better."

She checked her surroundings. It was a clearing in the woods, probably twenty feet in length and twelve feet in width.

"Why would shinobi from Kusa attack shinobi from Konoha?" Sakura addressed her captor.

"What are shinobi from Konoha doing in a route infested by bandits in Kusa territory?" The man countered, "I know we're allies, but this sort of thing is actually frowned upon."

"We were on an escort mission before we were ambushed by bandits." Sakura said keeping things as brief and to the point as possible, "My team is… was engaging them."

"Don't worry." The jounin reassured her detecting the note of concern in her voice, "Your teammates were still alive last I checked."

"So, what now?" She questioned, feeling a little detached about her predicament.

"Now you tell me how I can help my comrade." He said, "The one you hit with that poison gas jutsu of yours. Though I have to complement your proficiency in taking out three of my subordinates."

Sakura wasn't sure how to take that. The man sounded absolutely sincere and his politeness didn't seem like an act. If she wasn't tied up she would've thought she was out for a tea with him.

"Well take off my bonds and allow me to meet up with my team and we'll see." Sakura said, realizing her predicament wasn't as hopeless as she imagined.

"I say we carve the bitch up and force her to help us." Another voice snarled. Sakura turned her head to the source of the voice to see two of the men she had knocked unconscious. Now glaring venomously at her. Their vests suggested they were chunin. One of them was sporting a black eye, she noted and couldn't help smirking at him.

"Thanks for taking care of my subordinate." The lazy drawl of Kakashi reached her ears and her heart leapt with jubiliation, "But if you don't mind I would like to have her back."

Her captor turned to see the silver haired jounin making his way towards them, his hands in pockets and posture slouched. The fact that he wasn't reading his porn was the only way Sakura could tell that the jounin was actually taking this very seriously.

"Sharingan-Kakashi." The Kusa jounin said, as if playing with the words, "We were expecting you."

"Well I am here." Kakashi paused several yards away from them, "So I think you've played host to my cute little subordinate long enough, allow me to take her off your hands."

Sakura fumed at Kakashi's way of addressing her.

"I am afraid it isn't as simple as that Hatake-san." The Kusa-jounin said apologetically, "You are in Kusa territory as you might've noticed. Your very presence here is unlawful."

"Last I checked this was still disputed territory." Kakashi said, "Kidnapping a shinobi of another nation during peace and that too of an ally no less on the other hand, might be considered a bigger offence."

"So we are at an impasse."

"It doesn't have to be." Kakashi said, "You let me have her, we walk away, no one gets hurt."

"Is that a threat?"

The temperature around the clearing seemed to drop ten degrees. The two Kusa chunin tensed and even Sakura felt a shiver of fear and anticipation run down her spine.

"If that's how you want to see it." Kakashi replied in his usual nonchalant way, "But one of your subordinates' life depends on help that only we can provide."

"Why don't I simply take my chances with a hospital?"

"You're more than welcome to do that of course." Kakashi said, "After you let go of her."

The Kusa jounin remained silent, the threat in Kakashi's words didn't seem to go unheard.

"Fine." He finally relented, "You can have her back."

"But sir…" One of the Kusa Chunin protested and was silenced by a look.

"We will escort her to the border, where we will let her go after she tells us how to treat my man." He said, "We let her go once he is out of danger." He then proceeded to pull Sakura to her feet, "I hope for your sake you can keep your word." He whispered in her ear, "Because if he dies, you're coming back with us."

It took them less than half-an-hour to get to the border. The jounin had decided to carry her himself, a fact she found herself grateful for. She would have rather been set free, but in the present company she was glad it was him. The two chunin were glared daggers at her all the way as they tree-hopped beside their leader, carrying their unconscious comrade, who was now sporting an unhealthy shade of green

The man gently placed her down, and the flicked out a kunai. He then proceeded to cut her bounds. Sakura flexed her wrists and feet to get the circulation going and then approached the still unconscious chunin. One of his comrades moved in front of her to block her path. Sakura merely arched an eyebrow and he moved away. Leaning beside the man, her palm glowing with chakra, she placed it on his chest.

The poison she'd used wasn't fatal at all. It was designed to put people to sleep. Not kill them. Depending on the dosage and metabolism it could knock out a full grown man anywhere between eight and twelve hours. She would just speed up the recovery process by purging the poison from his system. She was glad they hadn't called Kakashi's bluff. She couldn't see him, but was sure, he was there unseen. It made her wonder where Naruto and Sasuke were.

The chunin regained his colour and groaned.

"That should do it." Sakura said addressing the jounin. "He should be fully conscious within an hour. Make sure he drinks a lot of water once he wakes up."

"Thank you." Sakura was once again surprised by the sincerity in the man's voice, "I am sorry for what you had to go through."

It wasn't an apology. But it was as close to one she was going to get. Acknowledging his words with a bow she made her way back to the other side of the border, where she found Kakashi waiting for him and was soon joined by Naruto and Sasuke. The former looked a little singed for some reason, but he greeted her with a big smile, one she found herself returning despite herself. Sasuke just grunted.

**XxX**

The Kusa team made their way back into their territory. It was a mixed bag for them. They had only partially succeeded in their objectives.

"Was that the right decision sir?" One of the chunin asked his team leader, "This was the opportunity we were looking for after all."

"That may have been." The jounin replied, "But the risks were too great for the rewards we'd get. Let's just be glad for having gotten out of that encounter, without sustaining casualties. Not to mention Kakashi's presence means that Tetsuo lost."

"He was alone sir." His other subordinate chipped in, "Together we could've taken him for sure."

"That's the thing though." He said, "He wasn't alone."


	8. The Missing Damsel IV

**A/N: Been a while. My computer finally gave up on me after ten years of loyal and exemplary service and it took me while to get a replacement. Anyway got a new chapter. Enjoy**

Sasuke wasn't fond of hospitals. A sentiment he shared with most shinobi. The gray mundane walls, the smell of antiseptic and the general atmosphere of doom and gloom was too depressing... even for him. Then that of course begged the question what was he doing here?

Its not as if he was the one injured and neither were his fellow shinobi for that matter. No, it was their civilian escort who had gotten himself hurt and rather badly he had to admit. That being said, he felt they had fulfilled their obligation the moment they had gotten him here and made sure his life wasn't in any immediate danger. He thought they had better things to do than wait with folded hands resembling bereaved relatives waiting for news of a sick loved one. To make matters worse he was being subjected to uncharacteristically dark glares from the blonde genin who was standing with his back to the opposite wall. Sasuke wasn't sure what his problem was. He barely got singed and he had been warned.

Ignoring the annoying blonde wasn't helping matters because that brought his attention to his other teammate. She was seated, her face nestled between the palm of her hands, her elbows resting on her knees obviously lost in thought.

Trying to ignore her led his thoughts to Kakashi which he had to admit was a decidedly the worst direction his thoughts could take at the moment. At least the girl was easy on the eyes. The jounin hadn't been pleased when he found that both of them had left Sakura alone to defend the caravan. Matters hadn't improved when they found the cart destroyed, the civilian unconscious with a wooden splinter jutting out of his leg and the pink-haired chunin... missing. It was only due to Kakashi's nin dogs that they'd been able to track her down and rescue her.

Kakashi hadn't been happy. He hadn't said anything yet because there were more important matters that needed to be attented to, but Sasuke knew what was coming. Despite his usual, laid-back demeanor the man expected high-standards from his subordinates and he had to grudgingly admit, he had every right to.

It shouldn't have taken him that long to defeat the bandits, despite their... resilience. He underestimated them and made it a lot harder than it needed to be, so much so that the blonde idiot felt it necessary to provide his unwanted and unnecessary help.

"I've spoken to the doctors, he is out of danger." Kakashi said as he approached them, "I've also made arrangements for him to be sent back to Sumer."

"So now what?" Sakura said voicing his own question.

"This mission has been a complete fiasco, and would be marked as a failed one as soon as we get back to Konoha." Kakashi replied solemnly.

"So that's it?" Naruto demanded, "Mission failed, game over? We all get to go home now? What about the girl?"

Sasuke suppressed a groan at the blonde's outburst. He had done the one thing he really shouldn't have and that was bait Kakashi.

"Of course Naruto, tell me what about the girl?" Kakashi retorted, "We just lost the one way we could've gotten into Kusa legally and carry out an investigation. If you'd just followed orders and stay put to protect the goods like you were meant to, we wouldn't have been in this mess would we?"

"And you?" The jounin turned to him, "Uchiha Sasuke... The Uchiha Sasuke is of course too good and important to work with others. Nope its beneath him." Then he turned his attention to the last member of the team and saw the girl stiffen, "And finally we have you." He held her gaze, "Tell me Sakura, what's your rank?"

Sakura was so flummoxed by the unexpected question that she was caught completely off-balance and failed to answer his query immediately.

"I asked you a question."

"Ch... Chunin." she stammered.

"Care to repeat that?"

"Chunin." She said a little more firmly.

"Naruto is a genin." the jounin said, still holding her gaze, "Guess who holds seniority?"

"I do." She was quicker on the uptake this time.

"You seem like a smart woman, so can you tell me where I'm going with this?"

Sakura wanted the ground to swallow her whole and it took all her will-power not to quail under the jounin's hostile stare. But she swallowed and managed to reply, "I should've assumed command after you and Uchiha-san had been otherwise occupied."

"Did you do that?"

"No, sir."

This wasn't what Sakura had expected. She'd expected to be chewed out. But not for this. She was expecting it to be because she got herself captured by the enemy-nin and failing to protect their civilian escort. She wasn't sure how to feel about this.

"You were worse than genin out on their first C-rank. If I had my way I'd have all three of you booted out of the shinobi corps. " Kakashi's voice dripped with disdain, "As it is you just might be after that performance."

""Disgraceful."

With that last retort he turned on his heels and exited the hospital.

XxX

Sakura nursed the drink in her hand. She was on her second. It was mid-day, so the place was relatively empty. The low lighting of the place matched her mood. After Kakashi's tirade against the three of them, she found herself wanting to get away. A few enquiries with the locals led her to the only bar in town. It was nothing special but booze was booze and beggars couldn't be choosers.

She knew she wasn't ready for field duty. She was forced into this situation. A surge of anger rose in her towards Kakashi, towards the Hokage, towards Sasuke and even towards Naruto, even though she had a hard time justifying the last one.

Resolving to avoid thinking about her problems she drained her glass and realized she'd caught a man eyeing her from across the room. As someone who attracted her share of male attention, that wasn't surprising.

What was surprising though was the fact that he actually approached her. Civilians usually were too intimidated by ninjas to be that forward. Unless he was an enemy-nin masquerading as a civilian or maybe he was just that stupid. At this point she wasn't sure what would be worse.

She'd be worried if she could bring herself to care at the moment. The man began moving towards her smiling the whole time. She was spared the dilemma of how to proceed by another occupying the seat next to her. Her mood soured even more when she saw who it was.

"I hope you weren't hoping to hook-up with him." Sasuke said dryly.

"What if I was?"

"He didn't seem like your type if you ask me."

Any other day Sakura would've been a lot more confrontational, but after the dressing down Kakashi had given them she just wasn't in the mood for it and as it was the man had turned on his heels once he realized she had company. So instead she settled for asking, "What do you want Sasuke?"

"I need your help." His face twisted itself into an uncharacteristic grimace as if the very act of saying those words was causing him pain.

Sakura's first thought was if she should've checked her drink for any drugs before consuming it. Her second thought was if she was dreaming. It wouldn't be the first time but she stopped having them a while ago and the flush of pleasure she expected had yet to come. So that could mean only one thing.

And she knew exactly what she had to do.

"No."

"Wait, what?" Sasuke exclaimed, completely nonplussed.

Sakura took the moment to savour the look on Sasuke's face. After years of trying to evoke some emotion from him it felt really good. Even though she doubted this was what she had in mind.

"I said no." She repeated.

"Why?"

He was making this too easy, "Because you're always a dick to me and everyone else around you, you-you have this air of superiority as if you're god's gift to earth and everyone's just expected to fall on their knees to hail your greatness, I was drafted into a team I didn't want, a mission which has already gone to hell and if that wasn't bad enough I'm sure I just lost myjob because of it." She took a moment to catch her breath, "So Sasuke, give me one reason, one good reason why I should help you?"

She sat there expectantly waiting for him to speak. He didn't.

"That's what I thought." She drained the remains of her drink, left some money on the bar with every intention of walking away. But before she could take her fifth step, "Please."

She froze in her tracks. That word sounded foreign, as if the speaker had never used it, which in this case wasn't such a stretch and yet, Uchiha Sasuke had asked for her help and was apparently willing to plead for it. What could be so important that not only did he need her help for it but was also willing to swallow his pride? Something she had thought impossible before this moment.

"Please." He repeated.

She stood there motionless for a while debating what to do and eventually her curiosity won out, "Fine," she muttered, "what do you need?"

"You've got to be kidding me." she exclaimed.

In front of her lay a dead body, most probably male and burnt to the bone.

"I want you to tell me, why I couldn't kill this guy?" Sasuke said ignoring her words.

"I don't know Sasuke." She tried to inject as much sarcasm in her words as she could, "he looks very dead to me." At this point she was almost ready to dismiss this as a joke and walk away if she hadn't known for a fact that Sasuke had no sense of humour.

"I stabbed three of these guys, straight through the heart." he said, "It didn't even slow them down. Now I need to know why."

In all her time she had known him, never had she seen Sasuke so agitated. He was in control, but something about this burnt corpse definitely had him rattled even if he was hiding it fairly well.

So that begged the question,

"Why is this so important to you?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Good luck Sasuke." She turned around again.

"Wait." He seemed to be struggling with something, "What do you know of Orochimaru?"

Sasuke had dragged her to the hospital mortuary, after convincing her to help him and was now asking her to do a post-mortem on one of the bandits he had killed.

"A traitor who led an invasion against Konoha four years ago, now believed to be dead." Sakura said, "What's he got to do with this?"

"Before he turned traitor, Orochimaru was one of the most revered shinobi of his generation." Sasuke continued, "but few people remember him as a brilliant scientist without peer."

"Is there a point you'd like to get to sometime in the future?" Sakura said impatiently.

"I'm getting there." Sasuke said, impatience colouring his own voice, "Now what I'm about to tell you right now is classified information and if someone found out that you know about this, your very life might be in danger." He leveled his gaze at her, "Are you sure you just won't do as I ask?"

Sakura said nothing but held his gaze expectantly. He'd not wiggle out of this. To his credit it was a good try.

"Fine." He shrugged, "Don't say I didn't warn you. Orochimaru was obsessed with the limits to which a human's or to be more precise a shinobi's body and mind can be stretched.

For this purpose he experimented on live human subjects. The reason he was expelled from Konoha. Or so they say anyway." He began massaging his neck in an unusual gesture, "Even after all this time Konoha has gone through a lot of trouble to keep his transgressions a secret. To the world in general he remains a treacherous shinobi and not more."

"So you think these bandits were similarly experimented on." Sakura said connecting the dots for herself.

"Orochimaru may be dead, but I fear someone out there is still carrying on with his work."

Sakura could get why this was important. If someone was indeed experimenting on humans they definitely weren't doing it to rob merchants. There was a bigger game afoot.

However,

"That still doesn't explain your interest in this." Sakura folded her arms, "It seems more personal than professional to me."

Without a word Sasuke tugged his shirt off one side to reveal a tattoo at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. The part he had been massaging. On closer examination Sakura realized that it wasn't a tattoo.

"That's a..."

"A seal." Sasuke finished for her, "Orochimaru gave that to me just before the invasion."

"Why?" Sakura could barely choke out the words.

"Thought he was doing me a favour." He spat out, "Look I don't need your pity. Keep it to yourself. I gave you what you want, I'd rather, you just return the favour."

"Look Sasuke." She began patiently, she was beginning to understand the importance of this if he was willing to share something that personal with her "I don't know how to break this to you, but I haven't actually done a post-mortem before."

"A post-mortem is done to determine the cause of death."he said,"I already know that, I'm more interested in knowing what was keeping him alive."

"But still..."

"Are you telling me that you can't do it?"

Sakura knew a challenge when she heard one. So she wordlessly snapped on a pair of latex gloves from a pack lying on one of the tables.

Sakura had cut open plenty of bodies before. It was part of the course as a medic-nin. They usually were in a lot better condition than the one she was slicing up at the moment however. It was a miracle there was anything to slice open in the first place. Whatever jutsu Sasuke had used on the poor chap had burnt him to the bone.

"Not much I can glean from this mess." She said after fifteen minutes of examining the body, realizing she had gotten as much out of the body as she could, "It was a male, in his mid-twenties. The only other thing I can say for sure is that this guy was no shinobi."

"How can you tell?" Sasuke queried.

"Shinobi in general have denser bone structure and more efficient musculature not to mention the usage of chakra over a lifetime leaves an imprint on the body." Sakura explained, "This guy was no chakra-user. Now only if this body was in better shape."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I'm fighting for my life." he retorted.

Sakura frowned. She knew it wouldn't last. For the past hour or so Sasuke had almost been civil to her. She bit back a retort of her own. It wasn't worth it.

Their attention was diverted at this point by the sudden opening of the doors to the mortuary. Sakura's heart nearly leapt to her throat before she realized who it was.

"Next time knock Naruto." Sakura growled, trying to bring her heart down to manageable levels.

"Why?" He said puzzled, "This isn't a private place."

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded.

"Not you that's for sure." Naruto muttered as he made his way in, "I was looking for Sakura-chan, looked all over the place before the security guard told me that pretty-boy over here had paid him a hundred ryo for uninterrupted access to the mortuary for a couple of hours without being disturbed. So, I just paid him twenty to allow me in."

"I knew I should have just placed a genjutsu on him." Sasuke muttered furiously.

"Why were you looking for me?" Sakura asked the genin, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"I need your help with something." he said.

That seems to be the theme today, she thought to herself but nodded.

"I'm out of here." Sasuke said walking away.

Naruto brought out a scroll and then proceeded to unseal... a body, with a decapitated head.

"I need to know why the hell was killing him so hard?"

Sasuke froze in his tracks. He turned around to see the other two looking at the corpse unloaded by the genin.

"What?" the genin exclaimed

"Where did you get that?" he demanded.

"Where do you think? I thought you were there." The genin mocked him, "Or did you burn away your brain-cells too when you went all pyromaniac."

"Maybe I should burn you up." Sasuke said, flaring his killing intent, "See how that works out?"

"Ohoho." The genin smirked, "Let go then."

"That's enough."

The outburst came from the last place Sasuke expected. Sakura was glaring at them both with her hands on her hips, and her eyes stern.

"Both of you. Out!"

"Don't presume to tell me what to do Haruno."

"That's where you're wrong, Sasuke." she said, "You need me to tell you why you had problems defeating these guys, for that I need to work, something I can't do if you keep bickering like a couple of first year academy kids."

Sasuke was beginning to regret his decision of taking her into confidence. Even though that time he felt he had little choice. Now she was going to hold this over him and what was even worse was the fact that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Fine." he said turning on his heels, "Call me when you're done."

Five minutes later Sasuke perched himself outside on one of the benches meant for the visitors. There was not much to do except wait for her to finish the post-mortem. She wouldn't have been his first choice for doing this. He had known her since his Academy days and she had not left a favourable impression on him. Not that he hated her. To him she was just another one of his countless admirers. A face in the crowd that deserved none of his attention.

Never in a million years had he imagined her to become something resembling a competent kunoichi and yet here she was, in a position where he needed her help. The 'why' of it was something he was doing very hard to ignore.

He had to know for sure.

"Stare any harder and you'd carve a hole on that floor Uchiha."

"Leave me alone." He grumbled, not wanting to get into a pointless argument again, "I really don't need this right now."

He was surprised to notice that his words were heeded for a change and the genin actually wasn't trying to bait him or engage him in a conversation otherwise.

"I'm not sure why Kakashi recruited you."

Apparently he gave him too much credit.

"Just what I need." he retorted, "A career genin judging me."

"You don't want to be here, you care nothing for the mission, you refuse to work as part of a team and you've been nothing but a problem ever since we started."

Sasuke felt a familiar surge of anger rising in his chest. He wanted to ignore him but not for the first time something about him just dragged a reaction out of him.

"You're right." He replied, "I don't care anything about this team or mission and the sooner we get back to Konoha the sooner I can get back to doing what I do best."

"And what is that exactly?" he said, "being an asshole to everyone around you?"

"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged not rising to the bait, "The mission's over and we're done, so it doesn't matter anyway."

That brought an end to their conversation,but something he said rankled in Sasuke's mind. He had vocalized his doubts about Sasuke's recruitment and with that had planted a question as to why was the genin recruited?

Sakura Haruno he could understand. She did seem a far-way off the fan-girl he had known and for all intents and purposes seemed like a competent kunoichi, and a medic at that. Kakashi wouldn't have chosen her if he didn't believe she was worth it and whatever the man's other faults he did have an eye for talent. He had recruited Shikamaru too. He didn't know much about him despite being in the same class, but he did recall him being the first and only one to don the chunin vest in those ill-fated exams even if he managed to get himself kicked off shortly afterwards.

In contrast Naruto Uzumaki made no sense. Granted he didn't get in the way despite his various quirks but he didn't bring anything to the table either. So the question remained.

What was so special about him? He was almost inclined to believe that Kakashi was just trying to mess with his head. Except it seemed too farfetched, even for him.

The doors of the mortuary suddenly opened and revealing the pink-headed chunin whose eyes seemed to be shining with an odd mixture of excitement and... horror?

"Guys," she said, "you need to come and see this."

Both of them followed her inside without another word.

"You would not believe what I just found." Sakura said literally trembling with excitement as she led them to the corpse. "I have never seen anything like this in my life."

"When I said that these guys weren't using chakra, I may have been wrong." She said.

"So these guys were shinobi." Sasuke deduced.

"No," Sakura said, "They were civilians alright." She took a scalpel and made an incision on the upper forearm of the corpse, before using her fingers to pry the skin away.

"What do you see?" She asked beckoning them to take a closer look.

Sasuke was no medic but it was obvious what Sakura wanted them to see. The muscles had a charred look to them and the fibres had seemingly torn themselves.

"Did he burn from the inside out?" Naruto queried.

"In laymen terms, yes." Sakura nodded agreeably.

"But how is that possible?" Sasuke muttered.

"Remember Lee from our first Chunin exams?" She addressed Sasuke and then continued without waiting for a response, "I had a chance to study his case later and his muscles had shown similar wear, only not so extreme. His injuries were due to..."

"Chakra gates." Sasuke remembered kind of power he had unleashed had to be seen to be believed, "And yet you say this guy is a civilian?"

"His body wasn't conditioned to withstand the strain that comes with opening the gates." she said, "I found it strange that with what was happening to his body he could withstand the pain at all, until I cracked open the head." She waved to another table where said 'head' lay.

"And?" Naruto prompted.

"Some areas of the cerebrum, like the Hippocampus had been rendered inactive."

"Let's pretend we don't understand medical lingo shall we?" Sasuke snapped a little annoyed earning a glare from the blonde which he promptly ignored

Sakura's face turned red with embarrassment, but she maintained her composure, "This guy was incapable of learning, making decisions, feeling pain or even emotions." She paused to take a deep breath and her voice quivered as she spoke her next words, "For all intents and purposes he was a walking corpse."

"Wait a minute, time out." Naruto interjected, waving his hands. "Are you saying that that this merchant route is being robbed by fucking zombies?"

Sakura looked like she was about to disagree but her shoulders dropped, "Yes Naruto, that's exactly what I'm saying. Except I don't think they're robbing anyone. Banditry is just and eyewash to stop people from looking too closely. I suspect its the civilians themselves that are the target."

"But that's not possible." Sasuke interjected, "You say they shouldn't have been able to make decisions, but they were in fact very well co-ordinated and even managed to keep me on my toes." He admitted rather sourly. He was ashamed at being caught off-guard, but he wasn't ready to believe his opponents were brainless morons...yet.

"I'm not sure about that."Sakura sighed, "But that's not all I found." She turned the corpse over so that the back was facing upwards now, she then proceeded to remove the dissected skin off the back to reveal the spine.

"What do you make of this?"

Sasuke didn't think of himselfas queasy. As a professional killer he couldn't afford to be. He had seen plenty of gruesome things in his life and yet he couldn't stop his stomach from giving an involuntary lurch when he saw Sakura pull the spine off the man's back.

At a first glance Sasuke thought that the spine was burnt, just like the muscles. But a closer inspection revealed that there was a pattern to them not expected from simple burn marks.

"Seals." Naruto said voicing Sasuke's thoughts.

"Some of them I'm sure were used to stimulate the gates." she said, ''but we'll need a seal-adept or a master to know for sure."

"They're transmitters." The genin declared.

"So now you're a seal-master?" Sasuke retorted.

"I dabble." he smirked, "Sakura-chan is right, the matrix has components to store foreign chakra which were used to stimulate the opening of the gates, but since it is a compound seal it has other elements, like these odd-numbered.."

"Fine it seems you know what you're talking about." Sakura interjected, "What does it all mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto said, "They were being controlled, just like puppets. They were literally battery-operated puppets. The chakra-gates being the battery of-course."

"Kakashi did face a shinobi." Sakura said, "Could he have been the one controlling them?"

"I doubt it." Naruto scratched his jaw thoughtfully, "Its more likely that there was another shinobi out there."

Sasuke's mind was racing as the others talked. There had been rumours of Otogakure's revival, but this wasn't what he was expecting. Only Orochimaru was capable of something like this. But he was dead, he had to be. There was another possibility however. It wasn't a great one but considering the alternative he was hoping he was right.

XxX

For the first time in a long time Sakura felt... not empty. She felt like she was contributing in a way which was more suited towards her skills. Not that she was bad in the field. Far from it. But there were way too many variables that she couldn't account for. But a hospital or a lab was where she knew she thrived. She had been more academically inclined than her peers and her strength had been her brains. Unfortunately her intellect wasn't as sought-after as physical skills or the bloodlines Konoha was so famous for.

One of the reasons she chose a career as a medic was because all one needed to excel in it were flawless chakra control, a keen mind and the ability to persevere.

She decided she would be a healer. Her name wouldn't be clearing battlefields and she wouldn't be a juggernaut, but she would be valuable because she would help her team stay alive. So she did just that. She lost her confidence after her last mission however and she began to doubt her abilities. But standing in the morgue of a civilian hospital, she felt some of it return.

A little too late perhaps. Now that she was on the verge of losing her status as a shinobi she realized how much she actually wanted to keep it.

"So are we taking this to Kakashi?" She asked.

"I don't know where he is." Naruto said, "And I doubt broody over there does either." He pointed to Sasuke whose perpetual scowl deepened even more, but otherwise ignore the barb, "So I guess it's up to us."

"There's nothing more to do." Sasuke scoffed as he made his way out of the morgue, "We get back to Konoha and report this in."

"You think you're coming back here again aren't you?" Naruto said stopping Sasuke in his tracks, "Gonna pull a few strings to bag yourself a mission to Kusa eh?"

"So what if I am?" Came the reply, "This mission is over, and as much as I've loved to be a part of this." His voice was heavy with irony, "I'm afraid this is where we say goodbye."

"What makes you think you'll even be allowed to come back?" Naruto countered, "Kakashi wasn't happy with us and I doubt he'll just let you come dancing back here on your whim."

"Doesn't matter either way." Sasuke said nonchalantly, but Sakura was beginning to suspect it was an act and what Naruto said had actually gotten to him, "We're done. The only thing left to do is go back to Konoha."

"It isn't the only thing left." Naruto declared cryptically, "From what I can tell this is rather important to you even if you care nothing for this mission, so hear me out." He closed the distance between him and Sasuke till they were at an arm's length from each other, "Finish the mission with us and then we can go our separate ways if it comes to that."

"You haven't told me why I need you at all?"

"I can get us inside Kusa."

"Yeah right." Sasuke mocked him, "I'm out of here."

"Kakashi recruited me for a reason." Naruto said, "And it wasn't to balance out your prickly personality"

Sasuke kept his glare on Naruto but it wasn't his usual one of contempt but rather contemplative, "You saw that thing." Sasuke pointed to the body, "That is most likely the fate that girl suffered, there is no mission here. Not anymore."

"Don't know what you're complaining about." Naruto said, "seems like you're getting the better end of the bargain."

Sasuke stood there motionlessly and Naruto turned to her.

"What do you say Sakura-chan?" he asked her, "you in?"

"You want me to violate a direct order from a superior who declared the mission to be over?" Sakura said sceptically.

"Technically he said the mission's over the minute we step foot inside Konoha." His eyes flashed mischievously. "Also its better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

Sakura couldn't believe she was considering this. What Naruto was suggesting was insubordination at best and treason at worst and yet she felt she had little choice. She gave a slow nod, not trusting herself to speak.

It was enough for Naruto as his eyes flashed dangerously. In the future Sakura would associate that look as being the harbinger of recklessness and overall chaos, as much a source of apprehension for his allies as his enemies.

**XxX**

Kakashi kept an eye on his team from his perch on the hospital roof as they went about their way. It seemed like his gamble worked after all. Part of it anyway. The risks were high, but then so were the rewards. The game was long and tough and he needed to know if his players were capable of playing it.

Things were out of his hands now. It was just a matter of waiting. What should he do in the meantime?

He could always go and finish the mission.

Right after Ryu's orgy of course. He thought to himself as he leafed through his beloved Icha-Icha.

**XxX**

"So this is your plan?" Sasuke wanted to strangle the genin.

"Yup." Naruto said cheerfully, "Isn't it great? They'll never see us coming."

"That's probably 'cause we'll all be on our way to become fish-food." Sakura snapped.

Sasuke never thought he would see the day when he and one of his fangirls would ever be on the same side of an issue but this whole mission was turning up quite a few firsts.

"Look," Naruto said, "there is another way.."

"Great, let's take that one then." Sakura said.

"But it will take days if not weeks to get there." he explained, "not to mention it has its own dangers, not the least of which is the chance to run into Kusa shinobi. On the other hand, no one will be watching the rivers."

"Because no-one is crazy enough to use them." Sakura said, almost hysterically.

"Exactly."

The Taki river near whose banks they were currently standing was one of the largest rivers in elemental nations. It traversed half of the continent before meeting the sea going beginning its journey in the Land of Fire before traversing through Land of Rice, River, Honey and Stone. It was joined by over a dozen tributaries on its course and was considered completely non-navigable near its mouth even during dry season.

During the rainy season like it was now it was nothing less than a nightmare and that's what made the genin's plan even more crazy.

"Considering we can't use boats how do you propose we do this?" Sakura questioned.

"With these." he said handing both of them what looked like plugs and Sasuke recognized them as breathers. They were of a different design than he was used to. "And these."

While he had been pondering over the design of the breathers Naruto had unsealed three cylindrical wooden contraptions, each over six feet in length.

"River surfing is a very popular sport in the Land of Rivers." He explained seeing the baffled look on his face which was mirrored on Sakura's as well, "These things in the local language when translated are called river kites. They do this all the time."

"You're telling me that we're gonna take these... kites and use them to navigate this river?" Sakura sounded like she was having a hard time trying to keep her throat dry.

"Yup it's gonna be fun." Naruto said cheerfully, "You might wanna take off your head-bands though before we start. We are going inside a territory we have no business being in, so nothing we do can be tied back to Konoha." He then went on to remove his own head-band.

"You do realize we have never done this right?" Sasuke said.

"Its not hard." Naruto removed his jacket and sandals, "Keep yourself balanced and follow the flow of the river." He shot him a smirk, "Don't tell me you're scared Uchiha."

That was all the convincing Sasuke needed. Sakura went through the motions like she couldn't believe she was doing made a shallow hole on the ground courtesy an earth-jutsu and buried their belongings there. They will collect them on the way back.

"If I survive this and the mission." Sakura removed her own jacket and her headband, "I'm going to kill you Naruto."

The threat didn't seem to phase him out in the slightest as he carried the river kite over his shoulder and walked towards the river, before wading in. After he had gained some momentum courtesy of the rapidly flowing river he pulled himself up.

"C'mon guys." He shouted over the roar of the rapids, "Just do what I'm doing and you'll be fine." He then proceeded to put the breather into his mouth making further conversation impossible.

Sasuke exchanged a look with Sakura before following in his path. As he made his way to the river he heard Sakura mutter under her breath, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

For that matter, neither could he.

**And done. Action packed next chapter and resolution after that. Stay tuned and don't forget to drop a line**


	9. The Missing Damsel V

**A/N:- So good news, I managed two updates within a month of each other, the bad news is that I was hoping to wrap this up but couldn't. Still that shouldn't take long either. Anyway here you go.**

**The Missing Damsel-V **

Sakura was beginning to wonder just how much bad karma had she accumulated to deserve what she was currently going through. In a matter of few hours she had been ambushed, captured and rescued, while her team had been been engaging honest-to-god zombies. If that wasn't bad enough at the end of all that, she was doing what many would consider borderline treason to make sure she kept a job which would very likely end up killing her sooner or later. Judging by the current state of events it promised to be the former.

She blamed Naruto for this. For some reason he had managed to talk her into doing whatever she was doing at the moment. But then again in the process he had also managed to do what she would have deemed impossible a couple of days back.

Convincing Sasuke to do something he was opposed to doing.

In this case that was working as a team. That was admirable no matter how you looked at it. Compared to the Uchiha she was a total pushover. So much so that he had been presumptuous enough believe she would come.

He hadn't been wrong. But still.

She was regretting it now. The guy was obviously crazy, if his idea with these contraptions carrying her down the most turbulent river in the Elemental Nations at the worst time of the year was an indication. He called them 'river kites', though she felt that 'suicide cylinders' was a more appropriate term. One had to lie in them and shift their centre of gravity to navigate the river. Sounded simple enough.

It wasn't.

For one the turbulence of the river kept pushing and pulling it from all sides, the slightest of miscalculation was enough to capsize the whole thing. Sakura had lost count of the number of times she had been dunked into the river. The cylinder's buoyancy was the only thing that was keeping her from drowning at this point.

Fifteen minutes into the ride she finally managed to gain some semblance of control. So much so that she was only getting dunked once every minute or so instead of every ten seconds that had been the norm. She had even managed to avoid taking water up her nose by timing her exhales. Amidst all the chaos she managed to catch a glimpse of her teammates every once in a while. A few yards ahead of her, Sasuke wasn't doing any better than her, but he wasn't doing any worse either. He was seated in his kite, while she had opted for a lying position. Though his way of navigating the currents was a lot more aggressive.

Naruto on the other hand looked like he was having the time of his life. Most of the time he wasn't even inside his kite. He swam alongside it, by holding on to it like a floater, not even bothered by the strength of the river. He easily made his way to Sasuke and said something to him which she couldn't catch due to the racket the river was making. Judging by his deepening scowl , he probably didn't like what Naruto had to say.

Naruto was apparently done with him because next thing she knew he was right next to her.

"Stop fighting the waters," he shouted over the roar of the river, "relax and let the water do the work."

Sakura kept her mouth shut because she didn't trust herself not to start screaming. She wasn't above showing fear, it was just that screaming would inadvertently get her to swallow the river water. But she tried to follow his advice and things got a little better.

"I should probably tell you this now," he said, "in another couple of minutes or so we will be hitting a drop."

"What?" Sakura screamed taking another gulp of water in the process.

"No worries," Naruto said nonchalantly as she stuggled to clear her wind-pipe, even as her mind tried to register the horror, "Its only seventy five feet. Just remember to hold your breath when it arrived."

Sure enough within moments she saw it approaching. She couldn't see how deep it went, or what awaited her at the end. The colossal river thundered like a monster baying for its prey and the first time in her life Sakura understood the terror of the unknown.

"Brace yourself." Naruto shouted as he was the first to reach the fall, followed moments later by Sasuke. As she approached the drop she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her stomach dropped as gravity took over. After what felt like an eternity she hit the water. Holding her breath didn't help as the impact drove the breath out of her.

She panicked.

Confused and disoriented, she fell out of the kite. The currents dragged her away, and just as she was about to lose consciousness due to lack of oxygen, she felt an arm grabbing her own. Hope renewed she kicked hard and within moments resurfaced to be greeted by a bizzare sight. Naruto or rather a bunch off him had made a human chain from the bank of the river. Dozens and dozens of clones hooked to each other to resemble a strange parody of a fishing line.

"On my mark." A clone she figured to be the original, "Go."

"Don't fight it." The clone attached to her whispered in her ear.

Before she could ask what he meant, she felt the familiar tug of the substitution jutsu. She underwent repeated substitutions before finally reaching dry land, where Sasuke was already on his knees, coughing and retching.

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" Naruto smiled.

**XxX**

Sasuke was going to kill him. At that moment he couldn't think of a single person he wanted to kill more in his life. If Kami were to come down to earth and offer him the boon to take one life, he knew what his answer would be.

And it wouldn't be Itachi.

It would be the blonde moron smiling idiotically at him and the pink-headed chunin while they did their best to avoid regurgitating their stomachs.

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?"

That's it this guy was getting a chidori through his heart. But to his great surprise Sakura beat him to the punch, literally. She launched towards the genin, who didn't even get the time to express his surprise before her fist connected to his jaw only to disappear in a burst of smoke.

Sakura turned around snarling in frustration, and Sasuke had to try very hard not to flinch. He half-expected to be the next target of the girl's righteous fury.

"Damn that was a little rougher than I expected." The genin or one of his clones at any rate pulled himself on to the bank, panting slightly but otherwise unaffected, when he suddenly paused.

"Did you just punch me?" He asked Sakura.

Sakura's next punch didn't dispel him into smoke, proving it was the original.

"Now I did," she said, satisfaction in her voice, "keep me out of your suicidal schemes next time."

"You got a mean right Sakura-chan." he commented spitting gamely, hunched over and hands on his knees.

"What?" It took a moment for Sasuke to realize she was talking to him. He realized that he had been gaping at her. Catching himself, he scoffed at her and shook his head and was satisfied to see the uncertainty that was characteristic of her return to her eyes. An aggressive Sakura was a little unnerving, even when said aggression wasn't directed at him.

Still it was extremely satisfying to see the genin get punched in the face even if he wasn't the one to do it.

"Now what?" Sasuke asked.

"Well my fellow comrades," Naruto smiled through his developing bruise, "I welcome you to Kusa."

"We're really in?" Sakura said, her anger forgotten momentarily.

"You bet."

"That's fantastic," Sasuke said, "we are in hostile territory, hundreds of miles from backup and no one who knows we are here."

"Already losing your nerve Uchiha?" The genin smirked at him.

"I just hope you have a plan," he said unwilling to rise to the bait, "'cause I'm this close," he brought his thumb and index finger close to demonstrate the fact, "to ripping your arm off."

"So dramatic." Naruto rolled his eyes, not affected by the threat, "And yes I do have a plan but first we need to prepare ourselves. You guys stand out

too much."

"We stand out?" Sakura asked incredulously, looking at the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, whisker-cheeked, orange-wearing genin.

He rummaged inside his jacket, bringing out strips of seals humming tunelessly under his breath.

"Ah," he said satisfation in his voice, "found it."

He tossed what looked like the business end of a mop to Sakura, which actually turned out to be a brown wig.

"What's this for?" She demanded holding up the hair-piece.

"It's either that or the dye."

Sakura looked like she wanted to argue but just settled for scowling as she went about adjusting it on her head. Sasuke got the feeling her initial protest was just a product of her residual annoyance with the blonde.

Then he turned to Sasuke.

"Don't even think about it." Sasuke muttered. He knew how to keep himself incognito and wasn't keen on accepting anymore of the blonde's help.

"Suit yourself." Naruto said.

"Do you have any dry clothes?" Sakura asked.

The genin shook his head, "We'll just have to steal some I guess."

"Are you teling me that you carry river kites and wigs on you but no extra clothes?"

"Never needed them." Naruto shrugged.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but then decided against it. Naruto's features meanwhile, started undergoing changes. His golden locks now resembled the colour of straw, his whiskers vanished and his eyes became darker.

The henge, an E-ranked tranformation technique, which they did their absolute best to forget after spending years trying to master it in the academy. It was too volatile and risky. Even shinobi trained for spycraft were loathe to use it. They preferred actual physical disguises. Details were important while executing it and to use it against an enemy who was trained to spot details was a good way to get your throat slit or worse, getting caught. Not to mention even the slightest lapse in concentration could dispel the technique.

"You sure you can hold that henge?" he voiced his question out loud.

''I once held a henge for three straight days and nights, trust me, I got this." The genin took his jacket and reversed it so that the formerly orange jacket was now brown, "Alright then," Naruto said brightly, "its time to go."

"Go where exactly?" Sasuke commented dryly.

"To see a friend." came the reply.

After navigating a turbulent river and hiking through miles of forest Sasuke found his endurance tested, Sakura was struggling the most even though she tried to hide it. Surprisingly, once again it was the genin who was the best off amongst them. That wasn't to say the journey hadn't affected him, but he looked more travel-worn than really tired.

He began to gain a grudging respect for the blonde's stamina.

They came across a village and managed to steal some clothes that were left to dry on the makeshift clotheslines. By this time their own clothes had dried, but they would stand out if they went anywhere near civilization. Buying the clothes wasn't an option either, since that would involve dealing with people, something that was to be avoided till they could blend in.

By the time they were done dressing up, all three of them could pass themselves off as country-folk.

They had been graciously allowed to hitch a ride into town on the back of a peasant's wagons who was going to the city as traveling by foot or using shinobi means of travel wasn't an option.

The wagon was congested and smelly, which could be attribute to the goats that were their travelling companions. Night had fallen, and the journey was slow. Sakura was nodding off in her place.

"So who is this friend of yours that's supposed to help us?" Sasuke asked.

"He used to be a samurai in the service of the previous Daimyo of the Land of Rice." Naruto said, "A veteran of the second war and the hero of the battle of Naoki Valley."

Sasuke was impressed. He may have forgotten most of the history taught in the academy, but he remembered one of the game-changing moments during the Second-Shinobi War where The Land of Rice had weathered a combined assault of Kumo allied with a myriad of minor villages for a whole day before before being reinforced by Konoha.

As far as victories went it wasn't big. But it went a long way in improving the morale of the side. The fact that a relatively small village like Kusa could deny one of the five great villages was a great boost. Its significance and implications turned out to be massive.

"After the Daimyo died," he continued, "of natural causes of course, he retired from active duty despite repeated pleas by the current Daimyo to stay."

"And you believe he will help us." Sakura interjected, now wide awake.

"Like i said," came the reply,"he is a friend."

By the time they reached the town it the sun had set. Naruto thanked the peasant and paid him before leading them through a maze of alleys and buildings to a part of the town which looked a little more glamorous than the rest. The streets were brightly lit, high-class escorts and geishas hung off the arms of their patrons, giving them slightly curious looks.

They weren't dressed right for this place it seemed.

Soon enough they found themselves standing in front of a building with green neon-sign that read,

Nirvana.

"Before we go in I need to tell you," the genin said, "don't talk to anyone or even make eye-contact. The samurai here, in general view civilians as less than the dirt beneath their sandals and have nothing but contempt for shinobi. Keep a low profile."

Sasuke suppressed a scoff at the advice and made to follow Naruto who was stopped by the bouncer at the door. A huge samurai, towering over them, a pair of daisho on his waist.

An intimidating sight indeed... for a civilian. Sasuke for one would have liked nothing more than to cut him down to size. Naruto however whispered something to him and he just stared at them for a while expectantly.

Naruto sighed as he turned to them, "He wants to search us."

Sasuke just stared at Naruto and from the corner of his eye he could see

Sakura fidgeting definitely not comfortable walking into an unknown place unarmed.

"No." He said.

"C'mon man," the genin whined, "you're making me look bad."

"The answer's still no."

"Let them in Benkei," A woman made her presence known from behind the hulking guard, "I'm sure they aren't dangerous."

"But my lady..." The guard protested, his voice surprisingly soft for one so big.

"Its okay Benkei, he's family," the woman said before turning to Naruto, "Its been a while Naruto-kun."

"So it has, my lady." The genin bowed at the waist in a gesture of greeting and respect. The woman moved closer to them and the guard tensed, reluctant to expose his mistress to danger.

She was a remarkable specimen of her species, Sasuke had to admit. Tall, elegant and graceful and without a hint of fear or apprehension as she approached them. Her manner and bearing exuded nobility and the way Naruto treated her with reverence had Sasuke caught off-guard. He didn't think it was possible for the uncivilized genin to project anything close to etiquette.

"My my, you've grown Naruto-kun," she said, a playful smile playing on her lips as she examined him, "who are your friends?" Her demeanor resembled that of a woman asking her son to introduce his friends from school and not trained killers.

"They are my team, my lady." he said, taking that as their cue, he and Sakura bowed hesitantly.

She nodded in acknowledgement of the gesture of respect.

"Please follow me." She said turning on her heels, the guard bowed as he moved out of the way, Naruto moved without needing any further prompting. Sasuke found himself exchanging a glance with his female teammate, whose eyes seemed to reflect the apprehension he had been feeling. For some reason walking into this respectable looking establishment felt more dangerous than jumping into a raging river.

Sighing deeply he followed after the pair.

They were greeted by a haze of smoke and the gentle music produced by the strumming of shamisen when they entered the bar. The place consisted of futon and cushions for customers and waitresses moved between them catering to their needs. A few of the customers looked up curiously from their places at the new arrivals, Sasuke suspected it had more to do with their escort than them.

So much for keeping a low profile.

The woman led them to the back of the establishment, opening a pair of ornate mahogany doors revealing a lavish office. But he couldn't bring himself to appreciate its beauty as he felt the familiar sensation that he had come to associate with the loss of access to chakra.

It was too late to turn back now. But at least he wasn't walking in unarmed.

The man sitting behind the desk grinned widely at them, or rather the genin as he got up, clapped him on the shoulder and hugged him.

The man was in his fifties, relatively short and stocky and his waistline showed hints of a developing paunch, but his powerful shoulders and arms spoke volumes about his past as a samurai.

"Let the poor boy breathe darling," the woman gently admonished, though her eyes were shining.

"Welcome back my boy," he said, holding the genin at an arm's length, "you brought company I see and judging by the expressions on their faces I'm guessing introductions are in order."

Naruto nodded and did as asked, "These are my teammates Sakura and Sasuke and guys meet Kamakura Hiten, the Hero of the Naoki Valley and his wife Kamakura Risu."

**XxX**

Naruto found himself returning the man's grin. It was infectious. It had been years since he last saw him not to mention their last meeting had not been a pleasant one. But sitting here, it might as well have not happened.

He had come to know him through Jiraiya in the good old days when he had been taken by the Sannin on the training trip. Jiraiya and Hiten went some way back. Friendship between a samurai and a shinobi was highly unusual, but the war had brought them together as comrades who had each other's back and later as simply men who enjoyed each other's company. The friendship not only survived but thrived once the war was over, and after retiring from active duty he opened this establishment with his savings.

So much so that the man didn't blink an eyelid when Jiraiya asked him to beat the basics of tactics and politics into his apprentice. Those few weeks had been pure torture for someone like Naruto who had never been the most cerebral of people, but he still managed to learn a lot. His wife Risu too had grown fond of him.

The two of them were an odd couple. She was the younger sister of the last Daimyo and they had an arranged marriage. Both of them were rather contrasting characters. Hiten was a passionate man. Loud, boisterous and loyal to a fault. Risu on the other hand was a calm, stately lady full of grace. Despite their obvious differences or maybe because of them, the two of them had a very successful marriage if one devoid of any children.

However, seeing a friendly face no matter how welcome wasn't the reason Naruto had come here though. He came here because Hiten knew things. He was still in touch with affairs of the Daimyo's court not to mention most of his patrons were samurai and court officials and even now he was often called upon in advisory capacity and Naruto intended to use the treasure trove of intelligence that Hiten had at his fingertips to finish the mission.

After the greetings had been exchanged Hiten gestured them to take their place on the tatami mats placed on the floor, while his wife poured out tea for them.

"Two years ago when you left my door, I was sure you were walking to your doom," Hiten said uncharacteristically somber, "did you find what you were looking for?"

Naruto could appreciate the cryptic nature of Hiten's questions. He obviously realized Naruto's need to keep things from his teammates.

"No," he replied, "but I found something else."

"Was it worth it?" Hiten took in the aroma of his tea as he stared at him.

"I think so."

"Well that's more than I hoped for," he smiled, "but that's not why you're here today? Not with the with rather illustrious company you've brought," he turned to Sakura and raised his cup to her who bowed back graciously, "a rather lovely young lady, and... an Uchiha."

He saw Sasuke stiffen from the corner of his eyes and he knew that Hiten had seen through his attempted deception when he tried to keep their last names from him.

"You honour me with your words Kamakura-san," Sasuke said with remarkable poise, "I would like to extend my gratitude for extending your hospitality to us."

Hiten burst into laughter.

"He is just as prim, proper and stuck-up as the rest of his clan."

"Be careful Kamakura-san," Sasuke said his eyes flashing with anger, "heads have rolled for lesser infarctions."

"Threatening your host counts as one of those infarctions one loses their head over," Hiten mocked, "or so I have heard."

The mood in the room turned oppressive as the two stared at each other, neither willing to back down.

"Stop messing with my team old man." Naruto said breaking the tension.

"Cheeky brat," Hiten grumbled, "interrupting an old man's fun."

Sasuke looked confused at the sudden change in the atmosphere while Sakura just looked relieved. Naruto was fully aware of the games Hiten played with others. He liked to keep everyone around him on their toes with his sharp wit and blunt honesty. Except it probably wasn't a good idea idea to antagonize the Uchiha considering his volatile temperament. Its a good thing he wasn't aware of it, or he may have goaded him till he could get a violent reaction out of him.

"Your idea of fun is frowned upon in civilized circles, dear husband," Risu had re-entered the room and was now serving them snacks to go with their tea, "I apologize for my husband's behaviour Uchiha-san," she said, "he has a rather unrefined sense of humour but he means nothing by it."

To Naruto's surprise Sasuke's gaze actually softened a bit and even muttered an 'its okay,' as he accepted the apology on behalf of her husband. She smiled at him and returned to her husband's side after serving Sakura.

Hiten meanwhile had lost his interest in Sasuke and turned his attention back to him. "I'm guessing you didn't enter Kusa through official channels."

"You would be correct." Naruto smirked.

Realization dawned in Hiten's eyes and Naruto savoured it.

"You crazy son of a bitch," he said, amazement in his voice, "you actually did it. You actually used that suicidal idea."

"What does that mean?" Sakura's eyes flashed angrily

The words were said in response to Hiten but she was expecting an answer from him and Naruto had a feeling that what he was about to say wouldn't be received well.

"A long time ago he told me that the river was the best way to infiltrate Kusa," Hiten obviously was in no mood to give him any respite now that he knew the trouble he was in with his female teammate, "and I had told him it was impossible to navigate that monstrous river, but it seems like I have been proven wrong." Barely contained glee shone through his words.

"I thought you said that river kites were used all the time." Sakura seethed.

"They are," Hiten said fairly, "but in gentle rivers, by lovers for romantic rides. You just used them to navigate one of the deadliest river in the world."

He gave another snort of laughter.

"Well we had an emergency and time was short," Naruto explainedd before Sakura could act out her rage. She looked like she would like nothing better to gut him then and there. Sasuke's face had gone blank revealing nothing.

That probably meant he shouldn't sleep tonight.

Just in case.

"What was this emergency that led you to break a dozen laws, violate a treaty and put yourself and your team in this situation?"

"What do you know of Oto?"

The question caught everyone in the room off-guard. Even more so because it hadn't come from him but Sasuke.

Hiten's gaze shifted from him to Sasuke and he considered the Uchiha, before nodding to his wife who gracefully left the room without a word.

"Okay kid," he said once the door had closed behind his wife, "what's your deal?"

"Otogakure was running its operations from inside The Land of Rice even before the invasion," Sasuke said, "in short you were harbouring enemies of Konoha, your allies."

"Be careful of what you're insinuating boy," their host warned, "those issues were resolved by people way higher on the totem pole than you."

"I wonder what they will have to say once I tell them that Oto remains active," Sasuke countered, "despite having been 'resolved' as you say."

"Let's say for a moment I were to ignore the fact that you're presence in my nation is illegal," Hiten said reminding them of the weakness of their current position, "What proof do you have of this?"

"Bodies of bandits who attacked us showed signs of experimentation," Sakura interjected, "a signature of Oto shinobi."

"That's hardly conclusive."

"It doesn't need to be," Sasuke said, "Citizens of the Land of Fire have been the targets and these attacks take place near Kusa border, if nothing else it raises some serious questions as to what Kusa has been doing to address these issues."

Hiten remained silent and stoic before sighing resignedly and taking another sip from his cup and started speaking, "The Third War cost my nation greatly. We were on the side that was victorious yes, but the price we paid was too great. Our allies had abandoned us in our time of great need, not that I blame them. The war had taken its toll on them as well and it was unfair of us to expect it.

The vultures had begun to circle us and with our shinobi system in tatters Oto came as a godsend. Or so we thought. By the time we tried to revive Kusagakure it was too late. Oto was the poison stuck in our throats that could neither be swallowed nor spat out."

"They have been kidnapping the people along the trade routes Kamakura-sama and then experimenting on them to boost their own forces." Sakura said.

"That maybe," he admitted, "but as long as they aren't targeting our citizens the Daimyo is content to ignore them."

"How long do you think it will be before it is your citizens that are targeted?" Naruto decided to re-enter the conversation, "Those trade-routes are already running dry. Even if you ignore the damage they do to your economy, and it won't be long before they turn to your own people." Naruto held his gaze as he spoke his next word, "maybe they already have."

"You have any idea what you're up against?" Hiten said, "if you get caught you will be interrogated and then executed. Not to mention what it will cost Konoha."

"If we succeed we will expose Oto's operations and maybe even take measures to put a stop to it," Naruto countered, "risk and reward old man."

"Don't throw those words back at me boy," the older man admonished him,

"I taught you those lessons."

Naruto fell silent as he allowed Hiten to think things over.

It didn't take long.

"You look tired," he finally said, "eat, rest, regain your strength tonight. Tomorrow we'll talk."

Sakura looked like she wanted to protest but Naruto raised a hand stopping her.

"As you wish."

"And wash up will you?" He barked, "the three of you stink."

A hot shower and a change of clothes, provided graciously by their hosts later they joined them for dinner. The rest of the evening was pleasant enough. Hiten was an excellent host and kept them regaled with stories and jokes. He had Sakura in splits and even the usually stoic Uchiha managed to crack a smile or two, though it seemed as if he had been forced to swallow a lemon whole. The food was delicious, however all three of them avoided the alcohol their host offered.

When it was time for bed all three of them were given separate rooms for which they were grateful. After being in close contact for so long all of them welcomed the respite if only for a few hours.

Or so he thought.

Within minutes of lying down he heard a knock on the door. Grumbling to himself impatiently, he opened the door and was surprised to see Sakura standing there. She was dressed in a brown kimono lent to her by Risu, and was hugging herself to warm herself from the cool night-air. Her wig was still in place, Naruto noted with some satisfaction.

"Can we talk?" She asked.

Naruto was expecting this, just not this soon. But he moved away to allow her in.

"Look I apologize fo..." he began.

"Who are you Naruto?" Sakura demanded.

"What?" Naruto asked completely nonplussed.

"You heard me," she said, "what kind of genin is capable of doing the things that you just did?"

"And what did I do Sakura-chan?"

"You led us in here," Sakura nearly shouted, her impatience getting the better of her, "granted we nearly drowned in the process, but we have managed to avoid both the authorities and shinobi. Who can do that? Not a regular shinobi and definitely not a genin, and why do you know these people?"

Naruto sighed, "You're asking me for answers which I can't yet give Sakura-chan."

"You don't trust me," She said accusingly, "after I trusted you with my life?"

She had him there, he had to admit. She deserved answers and yet he couldn't bring himself to reveal things. There was too much at stake.

But he could compromise.

"Tell you what," he said, "after the mission, once we're back in Konoha I'll answer your questions if you still want them."

Sakura bit her lip and shifted her weight on her feet.

"Will we succeed?" She asked him, doubt and fear colouring her voice, her green eyes full of uncertainty. The intensity of her gaze surprised him. She had held her own remarkably well throughout the mission and only now was he beginning to appreciate just how far out of her comfort zone she actually was.

He walked upto her and took her hands in his own, surprising her with the gesture. She didn't withdraw though and he took it as a good sign. Holding her gaze he put as much resolve as he could in his next words.

"Believe it."

**So there you go. Don't forget to leave a line. A writer needs his muse after all and guess what fuels her? You guessed it... Reviews people! Until next time.**


	10. The Missing Damsel VI

**A/N: Finally! Took a long time but finally done and hence my first offering of the new year is the conclusion of the first mission arc of this tale. Anyway enjoy.**

**The Missing Damsel VI**

Sasuke had spent sleepless nights before. It wasn't unusual for him. His traumatic past, the one he spent so hard ignoring during his waking hours inevitably caught up with him when he slept. They say you could control the outcome of your dream if you realized you were asleep.

He called bullshit.

He felt just as helpless as he did the first time and knowing he was dreaming didn't help.

He didn't hear the screams in his dreams. No, he had been too late for that. His nightmares revolved around Itachi. He remembered the terror, the helplessness... the hate, but little else. When awake he could focus on the hate and ignore the others. Hatred gave strength to his conviction that one day he will make his elder brother pay for his crimes. That one day he will be as helpless before him as he was.

The only difference... he would receive no mercy from him. Except maybe when Itachi spared his life he probably wasn't showing mercy.

Sasuke realized he had clenched his fist hard enough to dig his nails into his flesh and draw blood. Being sleepless had other perks in addition to being a shield from his subconscious. For one it kept one alive in hostile territory and another it gave him a lot of time to think.

He still wasn't sure what made him follow the genin. It was probably his own impatience at wanting to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

His original plan was to get himself re-assigned to ANBU after Kakashi was done with his games and then find his way back into Kusa and see what he could find. Being a hunter-nin gave him a lot of leeway.

Something had caused the revival of Otogakure and it wasn't Orochimaru... it couldn't be.

No, that demon had been exorcised. But it seemed another had taken its place. He would have to nip this in the bud.

"Mind if I join you?"

Sasuke inwardly cursed himself for dropping his guard. A civilian of all people managed to sneak up on him and it didn't look like they were even trying.

"You don't need permission," he said to the lady of the house as she stood next to him on the balcony of their establishment which also served as their dwelling place.

"I thought it'd be rude to interrupt one so engrossed in their own musings," she said, "but unfortunately old habits die hard."

"It's a beautiful view isn't it?"

It was a clear night and the moon was but half-full. The city beneath dazzling, with its thousands of lights mirrored the sky above. He could understand why it would be appealing to some and it would be rude to say otherwise.

"It is indeed."

She laughed softly clearly seeing through his well-meaning deception, "That's very kind of you Uchiha-san, but you don't need to spare my feelings on the matter."

Sasuke didn't know what to say to that, so he remained silent.

"You know," she said, "there was a time when my husband had lost himself. The ugliness of his profession had robbed him off his ability to look for the beauty in life."

"Why are you telling me this Kamakura-san?" Sasuke asked.

A melancholic smile graced her features,"because I think you too have lost ," she turned to him her eyes meeting his, "but then that's the beauty of losing something like that... you can always find it again."

"You're mistaken," Sasuke said, "I can't get back what I've lost and the things you talk about, I didn't lose," he turned around and made his way back to his room, "I gave them up."

Just before he entered his room he paused,"I wish you a good night Kamakura-san."

**XxX**

In the morning Sasuke found himself responding to a knock on his door to find a man waiting expectantly. He looked vaguely familiar and Sasuke realized that it was the bouncer from last night. The lady had called him Benkei. It was a stark contrast from last night where Sasuke could literally taste his hostility whereas now he was the very picture of docility.

"Yes?"

"Master expects your presence in five minutes."

"I'll be there." Sasuke nodded.

Seeing the hulking samurai remain at his place, Sasuke couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything else?"

"I've been instructed to lead you there," came the rather stoic reply.

"There's no need," Sasuke said,"I remember the way."

"If its all the same to you," the guard said,"I'd rather not be remiss in my duties assigned to me by my master."

Sasuke could barely suppress a smirk at that. His protectiveness of his master while admirable was misplaced. Not to mention if he wanted someone dead, there was little anyone could do about it. Still it was amusing to see if nothing else.

"Suit yourself," Sasuke shrugged closing the door so he could get dressed, replacing the kunai he had palmed in his fist.

Once he got ready for the day he was greeted by the sight of the genin lounging against the wall, the samurai, Benkei standing stoic as ever. When he saw him approach, he nodded in greeting, Sasuke to his surprise found himself returning it.

"Where's Sakura?" He asked the genin, who shrugged noncommittally.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait as she joined them almost immediately, giving them a casual wave in greeting. Sasuke's sharp eyes didn't miss the look the other two shared.

"Lead the way." Naruto told the samurai, who nodded and took them into the room where Hiten had entertained them last night. The door opened to reveal the man being served tea by his wife. Both of them clad in kimono, the scent of jasmine tea permeated the air. The whole effect was rather... homely. Three spots were designated on the floor for them. Sasuke took the middle spot leaving the other two to take their places on either side of him.

The aged samurai placed a scroll on the table, "This contains the map that will lead you to the suspected Oto-base which is where I believe you might find what you're looking for."

"Might?" Sasuke caught on that, "That's reassuring." He got poked in his ribs by Naruto for his troubles.

"Our intelligence suggests that the base is led by a man known only by a moniker 'The Doctor'",Hiten continued as if Sasuke hadn't spoken "My man will drop you to the outskirts of the city," , "after that you're on your own."

"Thanks Hiten," Naruto said pocketing the scroll,"I owe you one."

"I need a word with you," Hiten looked meaningfully at the genin, "alone."

"You guys go ahead," he said to them, "I'll join you in a bit."

This gave Sasuke a pause. He didn't trust Hiten or Naruto and he certainly didn't trust whatever they would be upto, but he couldn't think of a reason to stay.

"Don't take too long," he settled for saying instead as he and Sakura exited the room.

"Uchiha-san," Sasuke turned around to see that Risu had actually followed them out, "please wait."

Sasuke was a little puzzled by her request but complied, even Sakura looked perplexed. Their meeting last night hadn't exactly endeared the woman to him but his curiosity won out over any ill-will she had garnered.

"I just wanted to apologize for last night," she said,"it was presumptuous of me to think I understood what you're going through," she bowed at him in a gesture of supplication, "I hope you can forgive my transgression."

Sasuke wasn't expecting this. The apology caught him completely off-guard and only Sakura clearing her throat loudly him made him realize that he hadn't replied to her.

"That's okay Kamakura-san," he bowed back, "I shouldn't have walked away the way I did either that was... rude of me."

Sakura was now gaping at him, which really annoyed him for some reason. Thankfully Naruto chose this moment to join them, done with whatever Hiten needed him for.

Naruta bowed once to Risu and then stood next to Sakura.

"Guess its time to say our farewells," she said,"I wish you success in your endeavor now and in the future." For some reason Sasuke had the feeling that the last part of her wish was directed more towards him than his companions.

"Benkei will lead you out of the city."

This was it. One way or another he would get to the bottom of this.

**XxX**

"Did you find it?" Sakura asked Naruto who had just broken his meditative state.

"I think so." Naruto said as he got to his feet and stretched.

After Benkei had escorted them out of the city, the three of them had rapidly made their way towards the area designated in the map. Fortunately there was a relatively dense cover of forests in the way that allowed them to rapidly cover the remaining distance.

The only problem was finding the base.

The regular ninja village consisted of one massive area under the command of its Kage. This area also housed civilians who enjoyed not only the protection of shinobi but also their services.

Otogakure on the other hand consisted of a series of bases operating more or less independently of each other and yet having a central command structure. This made it particularly hard to target. Secrecy and anonymity were the shields they employed.

On the downside it also made it hard to defend them if they were attacked. It was their plan to exploit this weakness. Except there were only three of them. When they reached the spot marked on the map the only thing they found was what looked like a regular village. Sasuke however had assured them that the base was definitely there.

Then they hit another roadblock when Sasuke wanted to take some more time to prepare while Naruto cited the lack of time and how the longer they stayed here the greater were the chances being discovered. Sakura felt both of them had a point so she suggested a compromise by suggesting a quick recon first.

Then they ran into some drama when Naruto offered to do it and Sasuke had questioned his ability to do so. Naruto just went on to create a dozen clones and had them transform into regular looking civilians.

It had been a couple of hours since the clones had gone about their task. As soon as they left Naruto had taken up his meditative pose. He explained that when there were several clones involved it helped him to sift through the memories if he was more focused. Meditation helped him do just that.

"Meditation?" she had retorted, "you don't look like you can sit still for longer than a minute."

"I never said its easy." The genin admitted.

The more time Sakura spent with Naruto the more baffled she felt. The guy was an absolute chakra monster. Making dozens of shadow clones without breaking a sweat and sustain them when even experienced jounin struggled to make more than a few made him a special kind of beast.

And what kind of genin has contacts outside their nation anyway? And why does he have them?

But despite all her doubts and questions she found it hard to distrust him completely. There was a strange kind of sincerity to everything he did, that despite the craziness involved in his plans she couldn't help but admit they did seem to be working.

"So what did you find?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"We are at the right place alright," Naruto unwrapped one of the rice-balls that Risu had graciously packed for them, "its certainly creepy enough."

"And?"

"Aai fink phish phlashe ish shhe phashe."

"What?"

Naruto swallowed his rice ball before speaking this time, wincing in the process, "I don't think the base is hidden in the village, I think the village is the base."

"You feel like explaining that?" Sakura asked a little irritated by his roundabout explanations.

Naruto unfurled a scroll and proceeded to draw a rough map of the village,"The buildings in these three sectors can be ignored from what I can tell they're just faux-residential areas," he pointed at the west, north and nort-western areas on his makeshift map,"that just leaves these two areas," he tapped the east and southern areas on the map.

"Now there aren't any buildings in this area," he circled the eastern part with his brush,"which makes it rather obvious that there is in fact something there."

"They're underground." Sakura concluded.

"That would be working theory," Naruto nodded,"so now we know where to look."

"There's just one little problem," Sakura decided to point out,"exactly how are we supposed to get in there? I don't exactly see a door with a welcome mat outside do you?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply and then closed it, now wearing a thoughtful look on his face seemingly pondering the dilemma. To her surprise it was Sasuke who came up with the solution.

"The entrance is probably through these buildings." Sasuke pointed to the southern area of the map.

"That would make sense," Naruto agreed after a while.

"What about the defences?" Sasuke asked.

"That's where things get really tricky,"the genin remarked,"In all the time my clones spent there," Naruto elaborated,"they didn't notice any kids, that can only mean one of two things," he took a sip of water from his canteen and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "either the entire village has gone sterile or..."

"Or the village consists solely of people that have been brought from elsewhere," Sakura said, realization dawning on her,"in other words the kidnapping victims."

"They've probably been processed the way those bandits were." Sasuke added.

"You know what that means," Naruto said grimly.

"Every person in that village is a hostile." Sakura concluded.

"Bet these guys don't have problems with door to door salesmen,"Naruto said wryly.

Sakura found herself breaking into a cold sweat as she realized the magnitude of their task.

"Now's probably not the best time to mention this," Naruto said,"but I don't believe we have the element of surprise we were counting on either."

"Why is that?" Sakura asked.

"Think about it," he said,"my clones were meant to blend inside a normal village with normal people, and whatever shit's going down there is anything but normal."

"Guys," Sakura said hesitantly,"I think we should abort the mission."

Her suggestion was met with a stoic silence from both of her teammates.

Sasuke's face had gone expressionless while Naruto looked like he didn't know they had that option.

"This mission has just turned into a suicide one,"she said a little more resolutely,"we need to abort."

Sasuke scoffed contemptuously,"Is that your answer to every situation that goes out of hand? Run away?"

Sakura struggled to hold on to her composure but when ,"Are you calling me a coward Sasuke?"

"This is a hazardous job," Sasuke replied coolly,"if you weren't prepared for the risks you should never have been a shinobi."

Sakura's mind went blank before a single venomous thought resounded above all else.

How dare he?

"You insufferable prick," she muttered under her breath her anger finally boiling over,"you don't get to talk to me about hazards. When you've put your life on the line for someone else and have had others do the same for you, then you'd have earned the right... till then you know nothing."

Sakura turned on her heels and walked away not waiting to hear Sasuke's reply. She didn't know what she would do if she had to put up with his condescending attitude for another second.

After walking for an indeterminate amount of time she found herself in a forest clearing with a stream flowing through the middle of it. The gentle flow of the stream was in stark contrast to the raging river they had traversed not twenty four hours ago.

Exhausted by the turmoil in her mind and the exertions of the last few days she allowed herself to collapse on a rock at the bank of the flowing stream. She was surprised to find traces of moisture on her cheeks. Evidence of tears.

She wasn't sure what prompted her to react the way she did. That was hardly the worst thing Sasuke ever said to her and yet it triggered something in her that she had so far successfully suppressed.

"That guy is a dick."

"Go away Naruto," she said resignedly, wondering if she should be grateful or annoyed that he followed her.

"I wish I could," he sighed and plopped himself down next to her, "but unfortunately we still have a job to do."

"God is that all you can think about?"Sakura was exasperated, "why the hell are you so hell-bent on this?"

The genin stared at her. Though to her surprise she found that his gaze didn't hold any anger or annoyance only contemplation, as if she was a complicated piece of puzzle and he was trying to figure out where she fit.

"Have you always wanted to be a shinobi Sakura-chan?" He asked her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She exclaimed, but he kept staring at her expecting a reply to his question, so she relented, "not really, no."

"I have," he said,"In fact I don't remember ever wanting to be anything else," his eyes glazed over as if lost in memories,"to me shinobi were heroes who fought for the weak and the defenceless... proud and gallant."

Sakura felt her scepticism increase with every word the genin spoke, only her curiosity about where he was going with this kept her quiet.

"Of course later I realized that shinobi are just mercenaries who would work for anyone with a paycheque and would just as soon slit the throats of those weak and defenceless people than the tyrant oppressing them," he sighed, "if that wasn't a kick to the balls."

"Do you have a point?" Sakura said, her annoyance getting the better of her.

"The point is," he said,"we have the chance to do some good here, that's a rare thing in our line of work."

"You do realize that we may not be able to do any good and just end up getting ourselves killed in a place far away from home without so much as a grave-marker over our tombstones," Sakura retorted,"because that's the fate that awaits us and I'm being optimistic here."

And she really was. At worst they would be captured tortured, experimented on and then lobotomized to serve as brain-dead minions to a madman.

"Maybe," he agreed,"but if we walk away now regret is the only thing we will be taking away from here," he sighed heavily,"but if we survive then somewhere down the line... maybe years from now we're gonna be very glad that we did this, that we didn't walk away from the people who needed us."

Sakura stayed silent. How was she supposed to respond to that.

"I'll leave you alone now, but we're not doing this without you Sakura-chan," he dusted his trousers as he got up.

"Even Sasuke?" she asked mockingly.

"Even him," he replied just as seriously, "you know where we are."

He disappeared in a puff of snow and Sakura couldn't suppress a twinge of annoyance at his blatant abuse of the shadow clone technique. But despite herself she found herself unable to disregard what he said.

How the hell did a regular mission involving a missing girl snowball into... this?

"Damn you Naruto," she said under her breath as she made her way back to the team.

**XxX**

Tetsuo wasn't looking forward to meeting his employer. To say the last task had been a fiasco would be an understatement. They had not only been expecting Konoha to act for a while now they were hoping for it. His employer was hoping for a shinobi or two to continue his experiments on after success with the civilians. But they had been expecting a genin team at best or a squad of chunin at worst, certainly not a group led by Sharingan Kakashi of all people. Still he had not backed down and even engaged the jounin.

A bad idea that turned out to be.

Tetsuo was no novice. He was an A-ranked missing-nin. And his moniker 'Tetsuo of the Black Rock' was well-earned. But for all his ability and competence he was no match for the Konoha-nin. The man countered everything he threw at him and the only reason he survived was his timely retreat to Kusa territory and Kakashi's reluctance to leave team behind.

He would be counting surviving an encounter with Hatake Kakashi as a win, if not for the fact that he had lost all the subjects. He pushed the door open to the laboratory to face his employer.

He suppressed a shudder of revulsion at the atmosphere inside the lab. Whether it be the smell of chemicals or the moans of the unfortunate victims strapped upon stainless steel tables, the place never failed to give him the creeps.

The man himself was hunched over a microscope in the corner. After all this time he still didn't know the man's real name.

"Hand me the pipette will you?" The man rasped, still engrossed in his work.

"I'm not your assistant you know." Tetsuo growled but complied nevertheless.

"Of course not," the man said his tone dripping with condescension,"you aren't nearly competent enough to qualify," taking the pipette from Tetsuo he then proceeded to change slides.

Tetsuo let it slide. He had a thick skin and insults flowed off his back like water. It was a skill he cultivated while he was still loyal to his village. You didn't have to like your client, you just had to like their money.

"How do you propose to make up for my loss?"

He had been dreading this moment even if he had been expecting it,"It was hardly my fault,"he said,"the security consisted of shinobi this time."

"I thought that's the reason you were there,"came the reply,"to protect my assets," the man abandoned his work to look at him finally giving him his full attention.

He was a man of medium height and built, dressed in whites. His appearance was unremarkable except for his grey eyes which shone with cold intellect. His origins were shrouded in mystery. He didn't use a name. He was simply known as the 'Doctor'. Rumour had it that before being recruited by Oto he was a medic under whose watch dozens of patients had lost their lives. Some said the trauma of losing so many patients and the disgrace that followed made him lose all semblance of humanity. Others believed that he killed his patients during one of his twisted experiments.

Tetsuo found himself leaning towards the latter of the two.

"There were complications,"he explained himself somewhat reluctantly,"the shinobi team was a lot better than expected."

"Or maybe you're just not as good as you think you are."

Before Tetsuo could retort the lab was filled with sounds of alarm. The two moved quickly to the control room. Six monitors hung on the wall displaying the various sections of the village.

"Looks like they're finally making their move."

"You've been expecting this." Tetsuo stated, quickly reading the tone of his employer's words.

"A couple of trespassers," he said,"or atleast that's what I thought."

"And now?"

"Let's find out."

He pressed a few keys and the source of the disturbance was displayed. Tetsuo's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Is that the entrance?" He finally managed.

"Yes it is." The Doctor's voice lacked any inflection, but he could tell his boss was as baffled as he was.

**XxX**

Sakura took her position south of the village, just as they had planned. Sasuke was two hundred yards to her left, even if she couldn't see him. He was hidden a little too well. After her talk with Naruto they hadn't wasted time.

The plan, if it could be called that, revolved around a distraction, which was Naruto's responsibility, to trigger their defences and flush out any threats after which Sasuke was to identify and take down the biggest one, or more if it came to that. Sakura's role was to infiltrate the village and find the girl...

if she was there, and anyone else who could be rescued.

On the surface her job seemed like the easiest... the safest anyway. She wasn't going to be involved in direct combat and had to do what she did best... save lives.

But missions had a habit of going sideways, something she had learnt the hard way. The fact that there plan was so bare bones didn't help matters. The success of their mission, hell their very survival depended on way too many factors. Naruto's ability to cause a big enough diversion to draw out the greatest threats, Sasuke's reliability as a back-up, not to mention herself. Those were just the things she could think of off the top of her head.

She clenched her fist to stop its shaking. Now was not the time goddamnit!

She will not be a liability.

What the hell was taking Naruto so long anyway? He hadn't told them what the diversion would be, only that they would know when they saw it and that would be their cue to move.

She barely had time to finish her thought when her eyes fell on the entrance to the village.

"What the..."

**XxX**

"...fuck is he doing?" Sasuke exclaimed as he witnessed the latest antics of his blonde teammate. But certainly his eyes were deceiving him. There was no way someone... anyone could be that over the top crazy.

He thought the orange monstrosity he called a jacket was bad.

But not today.

He had painted his body in grey and white and half of his face was in red. His blonde hair was hidden beneath a green bandanna. A mace in his right hand which he rested on his shoulder. But as ridiculous as his appearance was, it paled in comparison to the fact that he was riding... a bull.

"Shinobi of Otogakure," his voice projected all over the village, "you stand accused of crimes of kidnapping, illegal experimentation and killing of the citizens the Land of Fire, the punishment for which is death."

"As for you 'Doctor'," he continued in a more menacing tone,"hope you have cleared your schedule," he pointed his mace at the gathering of blank-eyed villagers who were beginning to gather a few yards in front of him,"'cause I'm making an appointment."

Who the fuck talks like that?

He did get their attention, Sasuke had to admit somewhat grudgingly, going by how the gathered mob had surrounded him. He probably was going to get himself killed.

Sasuke was considering stepping in when one of the villagers broke away from the mob snarling viciously, rapidly closing in on the genin... and ended up getting his head smashed like a pumpkin for his troubles. His momentum carried him a dozen feet past the genin.

He waved the gore-stricken mace like a conductor would a baton,"Come on," his voice rang out in an open challenge, "I haven't got all day."

All hell broke lose.

**XxX**

Sakura didn't allow herself to dwell on the weirdness that seemed integral of her teammate. He had provided the distraction, like he had promised. Now it was time to do her part. She made her way into the village pointedly avoiding the chaos that Naruto was the cause of.

She was supposed to look for any sign the girl was here. A simple enough task. She could do this. A sudden spike in killing intent was all the warning she received before she jumped away to avoid a spike of earth meant to impale her. Palming a kunai in her hand she then blocked a series of shuriken. A couple of them got through her defence one nicking her forearm another her left foot.

Her momentary distraction had allowed her opponent to close in on her. She quickly ran through hand-seals to execute a substitution, but she knew she won't be fast enough.

Fortunately for her Sasuke was.

Kunai and chokuto clashed in a flash of steel.

"Go." Sasuke said shortly without turning around and Sakura moved. This fight wasn't hers. The other shinobi didn't pursue her having pegged Sasuke, and rightly so, as the greater threat. She approached the building they had shortlisted as the most likely to hold the entrance to the underground lair.

She didn't bother picking the lock and promptly snapped an exploding tag on the handle, stepping to the side and bracing herself against the wall. No point in being subtle anymore if ever there was one. The door was ripped off its hinges and crashed onto the opposite wall with a loud bang. Palming twin kunai in her hands she charged inside and did not find any resistance.

That was unexpected.

Probably Naruto's plan of drawing the resistance out had worked and she can walk in unopposed. Or maybe the enemy was just drawing her in ensuring she couldn't walk away.

Shelving that problem in the attic of her brain as something to be tackled by her future self, she examined the room. It was empty. She tapped her foot on the floor and repeated the procedure throughout the room, but got nothing to signify if one section of the floor was different or even more hollowed out than the other.

She was about to give up and give the other buildings a try, but there was something about this one which was still rankling her.

Then it hit her. The house was a lot smaller inside than it looked from the outside. She moved closer to the walls running her fingers to search for any hidden... there it was. Her fingers found purchase into the wall and pushed, revealing a hidden panel. A section of the wall slid to reveal something that looked like an elevator.

Scratch that it 'was' an elevator. The doors opened of their own accord and Sakura was left facing another dilemma.

Should she or shouldn't she?

Then she thought about Naruto facing against dozens if not scores of undead freaks and Sasuke taking on that shinobi just so that she could pass through with minimum fuss and her decision was made.

She entered the elevator. There were only two buttons. She pushed the bottom one after murmuring a silent prayer. The elevator couldn't have moved for more than a few feet when it came to a sudden stop.

Was that it? She braced herself waiting for the doors to open. But they remained shut even after a mental count of thirty. Deciding on a more proactive approach she tried to wrench the door open with her fingers. After a brief struggle the doors relented. Sakura realized that she was caught between floors in a way that there was a tiny gap just big enough for her to slip out.

Convenient? Yes

Malfuntion? Probably not.

Trap? Most likely.

Heaving herself out of the elevator she pulled herself through the gap into what seemed like a dark corridor. She had seen horror movies that began like this. They never ended well. She walked deeper into the corridor the sound of her footsteps her only companion.

The darkness coupled with the silence was beginning to unnerve her, and it was only due to her training that she wasn't a quivering mess of fear and panic. She kept walking till she reached the end of the corridor and found... nothing.

Was she supposed to look for another hidden elevator?

The choice was taken out from her hands when all of a sudden a whirring sound echoed through the place. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she turned around to face the way she came. Panels along the walls of the corridor kept opening and out spilled men armed with sickles, knives, blades and other assortment of melee weapons, their faces blank.

"Shit," she said summing up her situation in one word.

**XxX **

Sasuke parried a blow to his head before bisecting his opponent at the waist... only to have him crumble to dust a quick substitution with the remains of the clone saved him from getting stabbed.

The two of them had been at this dance for close to five minutes now. When the duel began Sasuke had intended to finish this quick and move on to other matters, so he had been liberal with his ninjutsu at the start of the fight, peppering the man with fireballs and going full offence.

His opponent had the same idea apparently and went all-out with his earth techniques. It was, to be frank a little impressive seeing an element widely believed to be defensive used for such an effective offence. The man had clipped his shoulder during that initial exchange, nearly dislocating it and Sasuke had paid him back in kind by slicing up his thigh.

After realizing that neither of them had a definite advantage over the other, they had fallen on trying to scope each other out, sometimes exchanging physical blows or the odd kunai and shuriken shower. Sasuke held the advantage in speed, had better ranged-capabilities not to mention the precognitive abilities of his sharingan. By all means this battle should have been over by now.

Only his opponent was no slouch either. He made up for the inferiority of technique by being crafty. His liberal use of earth-clones in conjunction with the substitution technique allowed him to survive. He hadn't still used his trump-card, his lightning-based techniques but he wanted to avoid using them till he was absolutely sure he could execute a debilitating if not an outright kill strike.

Kunai met chokuto. Sasuke twisted his blade in a move meant to disarm, the man let the kunai go and executed a knife-hand strike aimed at his throat. Sasuke predicted the feint and the subsequent move thanks to his sharingan and redirected his blade to the man's shoulder. It pierced his armoured vest, but then met with resistance. The man rapidly stepped back, but Sasuke was having none of it and followed, that's when his instincts screamed at him to get away and only a quick substitution saved him from certain death. He didn't escape completely unscathed as he had caught some of the debris from the blast on his ribs knocking the air out of him, nothing life-threatening, but annoying nonetheless.

He may not have been Kakashi when it came to memorizing a thousand techniques, but he knew an exploding earth-clone when he saw one. The technique's fame was only exceeded by the secrecy surrounding its mechanics.

He jogged his memory and only two names stood out from the bingo-book. One was Deidara an S-ranked nin who had taken the technique further than anyone who came before him before he betrayed Iwa and the other was...

"Tetsuo," Sasuke said trying to buy time to recover as they circled each other, "a long way from home aren't you?"

"I can say the same about you... Uchiha," his adversary spat out his clan name, breathing a little heavily the combat obviously taking its toll on him,"judging by the lack of a headband I'd say you decided to go rogue. Following older brother's footsteps are we?"

Sasuke ignored the not so subtle jab at the status of his reviled brother, but he just recalled the questions he had and without even knowing it, Tetsuo of the Black Rock had just volunteered answers.

So what if he would now have to take him alive instead and if in the process of extracting said answers Tetsuo suffered a little more than he had to, he doubted anyone would complain.

Sasuke slipped into a seal-less shunshin only this time following the man's reactionary substitution to intercept him. Changing directions mid-shunshin was an impossible feat...for most shinobi. But Sasuke was an Uchiha.

It was a style of combat that Uchiha Shisui had perfected. Using a high-speed travel technique and modifying it for combat in conjunction with the sharingan, and while Sasuke was a long way from mastering it he could use it with some measure of competence. He thoroughly relished the surprise mixed with dread on the face of his opponent as he drove his drove his chokuto channeled with lightning chakra straight through the man's torso, careful enough to avoid his vitals. The man gasped in pain and Sasuke twisted the blade.

"You know you just made this a lot more painful than it needed to be," Sasuke said,"What was that?" he bent closer to the helpless gasping shinobi as he tried to speak. All of a sudden the man gripped his sword arm in a vice-like grip.

"I said... boom!"

Tetsuo dusted himself off as he walked away. Maybe he had overdone it a bit. But then again his opponent was someone who warranted an overkill. The Uchiha was rather good he had to admit, just not good enough. If the mere mention of his brother was enough to make him lose his head the way he did, then he wouldn't have lasted long anyway. Still, he was an Uchiha and killing an Uchiha wouldn't exactly hurt his notoriety.

"But that's the thing about notoriety," a voice whispered in his ear,"you need to be alive for it to be any good to you."

He turned around and saw no one.

"Looking for me?"

"Impossible!" he exclaimed, as the smirking visage of his enemy materialized in front of him,"genjutsu," he flared his chakra to break it but realized it was too late.

He had lost this one.

**XxX**

Naruto and Gamahiro plowed through another group as he swung his mace, smashing their heads.

"I'm afraid my time is up Naruto," his summon whom he had henge'd as a raging bull said as he gored a charging zombie through the torso as Naruto removed its head.

"Already?" Naruto blocked a staff aimed at his head with his mace and executed a palm-strike on the chest of another adversary driving him into the crowd that was trying to flank him,"but you just got here."

"I have been here for nearly half an hour brat," Gamahiro said jumping over another group.

The two of them finally came to a sliding stop. Soon they were surrounded by more. They were keeping their distance a few yards from him in a loose circle. They may not feel much but whoever was controlling them certainly couldn't have been happy with the losses. Naruto had killed scores of these guys and their numbers while still remaining significant were finite. Sooner or later they would run out minions.

"Guess this is it then," Naruto addressed his mount,"tell the family I said hi and give my regards to Ma and Pa will you?"

"Will do," came the reply,"good luck with the rest," the summon said before disappearing in a puff of smoke, Naruto landed on his feet with practiced ease. He tapped his mace twice on the ground shaking off bits of gore from it and grinned.

He waited for them to attack... and waited.

Suddenly as one all of them turned tail...and ran.

"Huh?" Nauto stood there for a while a little nonplussed by this turn of events,"that was unexpected."

As much as he wanted to believe they were running scared from him, he had a feeling it was something else.

His doubts proved to be true a bare second later when a resounding boom echoed through the base shaking the very earth.

**XxX**

Sakura knew she had maybe three seconds to come up with a plan. There was no way she could fight her way out of this.

They charged. She ducked under a slash and drove an open palm into the attacker's nose flinging him on to the incoming horde. Not wasting another moment, she turned around and scaled the wall, not bothered by the gravity acting against her. She could claim to have better chakra control than the average shinobi and even a below average shinobi had tree walking down pat.

To her it was second nature.

Soon she was running upside down along the ceiling safely out of their reach. Before she could congratulate herself a knife embedded itself right next to her foot missing it by an inch. She spent the next thirty seconds dodging projectiles, some even tried to grab her by jumping. After a few came close she decided to crouch and placed herself as close to the ceiling as she could. It reduced her speed considerably and affected her ability to dodge, but a few nicks and cuts were a small price to pay in return for her life.

Despite her situation she couldn't help but be reminded of the girl possessed by a demon in one of the horror films her ex-boyfriend had coerced her into watching. In one of the scenes she hung upside down from the ceiling hissing at the protagonist.

Her moment of distraction nearly led one of her pursuers to grab her foot. Cursing herself and then forcing herself to focus she continued on her way. Eventually she managed to gain some distance from her pursuers and landed back on the floor, a plan began to take form in her mind. Breaking into a sprint she drew out a couple of kunai and wrapped exploding tags around them both.

She could see the elevator just a hundred yards ahead of her, suspended between the floors. Sending a silent prayer to the gods, she threw her first kunai not at the mob following her, but at the ceiling and her second kunai at the contraption holding the elevator. Running through hand-seals she executed a near flawless shunshin and slid into the elevator a split second before twin explosions rang out.

The elevator was now in free-fall, she braced herself for impact which fortunately didn't take long in coming. The impact was jarring, but that was all it was. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of her troubles, a low rumble was her only warning before thousands if not millions of tons of earth collapsed on top of her... or would have if she hadn't jumped away just in time just as the elevator was crushed like a plastic cup under the weight of the debris.

Maybe the first tag had a little too much juice in it. She had expected it to be just about powerful enough to collapse that passage and creating a barrier between herself and her pursuers.

It had done a lot more than that.

"What have you done?"

She turned towards the source of the voice to see what was probably one of the most bizarre things she had seen in her life. A man... or at least she assumed it was a man. It was hard to tell from all the wires protruding out of his scalp which were in turn attached to various contraptions behind him. He was seated in a high-backed chair with his hands on the armrests on an elevated platform of sorts glaring at her with murder in his eyes.

The smell of chemicals, the dark foreboding atmosphere and the quiet hum of machines combined together made the place look like something straight out of a sci-fi novel and despite the fact that having so many wires to one's head should have been a very painful process the guy didn't look or behave like a victim, so that could only mean one thing.

"You're the Doctor aren't you?" Sakura said, "and that's" she gestured to the wires, "how you control them I suppose."

The anger faded from his eyes and was replaced by resignation, "I don't expect you to understand," he said, "primitive minds like yours can't even comprehend what I'm trying to do, too constrained by the ru..."

Sakura nailed him with the blunt end of her kunai, effectively putting an end to the man's ramblings as he groaned in pain.

"Shut the fuck up."

He wasn't a threat. He wasn't even a shinobi. He was afraid of her and was expressing his fear at first through impotent rage and just now with weird justifications which could only make sense to the crazy lobby. She turned her attention to the rest of the room and found several cylindrical containers arranged in two rows a glass visor over each, attached to machines used to monitor vital statistics.

She rushed to the first and saw an unconscious woman through the visor. Her brain activity suggested that she hadn't yet undergone the procedure that was supposed to turn her into a mindless drone.

Hope flaring in her heart she once again approached the 'Doctor' who was still groaning in pain.

"Release them," she demanded pushing his chin up to make him face her, he flinched away.

"Why should I?" came the defiant reply,"they belong to me."

Sakura didn't bother arguing with him. If he won't be cooperative then it was time to get creative. She ripped out one of the wires attached to his head and the room was filled with his screams of agony.

"Release them now," her hand danced over another.

"Even if I did," the man gasped, "it won't do any good."

"What do you mean?"

"There was only one way in and out of this place," he said,"and you've just destroyed it and with it any chance of getting out of here alive," the man laughed mirthlessly as blood ran down his face from the puncture wound left by the uprooted wire,"trust me, at the moment they are better off than we are."

Sakura shoved him back utterly disgusted with him. A tremor shook the entire place and Sakura realized that that the place was likely to collapse any minute now, when her attention was attracted to a banging noise coming from one of the sections of the wall. Before she could move towards the source of the noise that section of the wall was torn apart like a plastic screen and a brown mass of blob fell through followed by a river of mud.

The blob struggled to its feet, nearly losing its balance before steadying itself. It then proceeded to wipe its face,"I hate that jutsu," it muttered before turning to her and blue eyes sparkled with joy through the layers of mud.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" he waved at her casually as if he had run into her at a market and not the lair of a mad scientist.

"Naruto!" Sakura nearly cracked with relief.

"This the guy?" he walked towards them, his feet squeaking.

Sakura gave him the short version of the events leading to this and Naruto gave her a patient hearing while their helpless enemy glared at them warily.

Once she was done, without another word the genin ripped out another of the wires attached to his scalp extracting another round of cuss filled screams and looked like repeating the process when without another word his somewhat unfortunate victim rapidly pressed a few buttons on the armrest of his chair and all the cylinders opened with an audible hiss.

Sakura was about to point out the obvious problem of transporting so many unconscious people but realized her concerns were unfounded. Naruto whistled and dozens of clones entered the laboratory through the entrance he had created minutes ago and then went about extracting them from their prisons.

"We have a problem boss," one of the clones shouted. Naruto made his way to the clone and Sakura followed, but not before knocking the 'Doctor' out with a well placed strike to the temple.

The problem turned out to be the various IV lines attached to the victims and the clones not being sure if it was safe to remove them.

"It's okay," Sakura said placing an arm on Naruto who looked like he was ready to rip out a few more wires from someone's scalp,"I got this."

Sakura spent the next forty five minutes unhooking everyone while Naruto debriefed her. He told her how about a third of the village seemed to have collapsed on itself(a result of her stunt with the exploding tags) and how suddenly all of the people gathered near the point of collapse, which was why he decided to get to the bottom of it... literally.

Sakura gave him an abridged version of her own adventures though left out her part in causing the place to nearly collapse and put it down to a security measure. Naruto eyed her speculatively and Sakura was beginning to think he wasn't buying her story. Throughout this mission Naruto gave her the distinct impression that he was a lot more smarter and perceptive than he looked.

"That's fucked up," he finally said, "who the hell rigs their own place to blow up while they are still likely to be in it? Evil guys and their plans am I right?"

Then again, maybe not.

"To be frank he doesn't look all that smart to me," Sakura said as nonchalantly as she could while she unhooked the last person off the cylinder,"guess that's all of them."

"Time to go?" one of the clones inquired as he shouldered one of the victims.

"Time to go." Naruto agreed.

**XxX**

Sasuke turned the prone body of Tetsuo over with his foot as he groaned in pain from the wounds inflicted on him,"Its been a while since I fell prey to genjutsu," he said, and Sasuke could hear just a hint of grudging respect in his voice.

"That's 'cause you'd never faced an Uchiha," Sasuke retorted,"till today."

"Why am I still alive?"

"I have some questions and your answers will determine how painful your passage into the next world will be, let's start with the big one," Sasuke said,"who's running Oto?"

"I don't know," came the reply and Sasuke plunged his hand into the open wound on his torso earning himself a scream of pain. Sasuke reduced the pressure but didn't withdraw.

"Want to rephrase your answer?" he asked.

"I'm telling you the truth," Tetsuo gasped,"I'm just a hired hand, I'm not even an Oto shinobi."

Sasuke resumed the pressure.

"Wait wait, I said WAIT!" Tetsuo grasped frantically at his arm,"I know someone who might," Sasuke relented as he started speaking rapidly,"my employer... he is said to have been hired personally by the Otokage, if anyone can answer your questions it would be him."

Not quite satisfied but he did have a point. He could always get back to him. Sasuke withdrew his arm and the former Iwa-nin collapsed on the ground, writhing in agony. Sasuke's danger senses started tingling, and he reactivated his sharingan by reflex and the world slowed.

Tetsuo was in the process of slipping into a shunshin, he wasn't trying to escape. He was preparing a killing blow.

Except Sasuke wasn't the target.

In the next moment he was standing a dozen yards from his original position, his chidori laden arm run through Tetsuo's heart. Tetsuo coughed once, spraying Sasuke's face with his blood almost like a final act of defiance before the life seeped from his eyes. With a jerk he yanked his bloody arm from his chest and allowed the husk of the former shinobi to fall facedown on the ground. It seemed he wasn't nearly as helpless as Sasuke had assumed.

The entire thing took less than a second.

"Sa... Sasuke?" the tentative voice of Sakura whose life he had inadvertently saved with his reflexive action called out from behind him. He turned around and disregarded the terror in her eyes. He didn't have the time for this and instead turned his attention the the army of clones who were all carrying unconscious and mostly naked people on their backs.

"You didn't kill the guy running this place did you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Calm down," the clone nearest to him said, rolling his eyes,"the boss is carrying him personally."

"Did someone call for me?" another came forward, like the others he too was carrying someone on his shoulders, the only difference being this one was actually clothed.

"Put him down," Sasuke said,"I have questions for him."

"I will," came the cheeky reply,"but only if you ask nicely."

Sasuke wordlessly drew the chokuto from it's scabbard.

"Fine," the genin relented rolling his eyes at his unspoken threat,"a little politeness never killed anyone you know, and I doubt he's gonna be much good to you in the condition he's in," he dropped him in front of him.

"If by condition you mean dead," Sasuke hissed as he felt the familiar onset of anger coursing through his blood while he examined the man,"then I swear my manners will be the least of your problems."

"Dead?" Sakura rushed to him and placed her fingers underneath the man's jaw to feel his pulse,"can't be... I just knocked him out."

"Congratulations," Sasuke said putting as much venom as he possibly could in his voice,"the one time in this mission you were supposed to keep someone alive you end up killing."

He saw her face blanch even as she worked over the man trying to revive him. By now Naruto had joined her too, an uncharacteristically thoughtful look on his face. But Sasuke had had it with the two of them. This was precisely the reason why he didn't want to be in a team. They just got in the way and messed things up.

"If you could get your head out of your ass for a second," the genin said still examining the body looking for god knows what,"maybe you'll consider the possibility that maybe his death isn't actually Sakura-chan's fault."

"Yeah?" he scoffed,"guess I should blame my imaginary friend should I?"

Naruto turned to Sasuke and from the smirk on his face he knew he will regret that comment,"Only if your imaginary friend did this." he was holding the dead man's mouth open and had his tongue folded with a finger. Despite himself Sasuke found himself moving closer to take a better look. A small horse-shoe shaped tattoo was placed underneath the tongue.

"Is that a..." Sakura started.

"A seal?" Naruto concluded,"yes it is. A suicide seal by the looks of it. They weren't exactly being original here were they?" he then turned to Sasuke,"now how about that apology?"

"Apology?"

"Yeah for being an asshole to Sak..." he broke off mid-sentence hearing Sakura gasp.

"Sasuke," she said her eyes widening in horror,"you're bleeding."

What the hell was she talking about? he thought irritably. He gave himself a cursory examination. There was blood, yes, but it was that of his enemy. He stepped forward and his foot made a squelching sound as if it just stepped in mud. Except the mud wasn't wet with water but blood... his blood.

He had indeed sustained a wound on his abdomen. But when? He put together the pieces together even as his vision was beginning to get blurry.

It seemed his opponent managed one final blow before he died.

'I'm so screwed' was the last thought in his head just before he lost consciousness.

**XxX **

_He found himself outside the Uchiha compound. That's how he knew it was a dream. He would never come here while awake. Still this was different from his usual dreams. For once it wasn't night. It was twilight during autumn. He could tell by the colour of the leaves which had turned golden brown. By the time winter comes the trees would be completely bare. _

_He liked autumn... or at least he used to. These days he didn't like much of anything. He pushed open the gate and walked on the paved path which led to his house. The clan grounds were deserted and he had a feeling so were the houses._

_"Its getting colder sochi," a woman called out,"why don't you come in?"_

_He realized his feet had carried him to his house. His mother was standing there just outside the door, a small smile playing on her lips borne of the simple joy of seeing her son come home._

_He found himself seated at their dining table while his mother poured him a bowl of tomato soup, his favourite... or at least it used to be._

_"You shouldn't be here," he said glaring at the soup._

_"This is my home silly," she said in mock outrage, before placing a palm on his face gently in a gentle caress,"of course I should be here."_

_"I don't need you." he said._

_The scene changed. Darkness fell. A blade protruded from her chest and he saw his brother behind her, his face impassive. Terror and helplessness flooded his veins as his brother bathed him in the blood of his mother._

_He welcomed it._

Sasuke woke up with a splitting headache and in unfamiliar surroundings. His first instinct was to reach for his weapon, which wasn't anywhere near him.

He got to his feet and immediately felt light-headed nearly collapsing back on the bed.

"You're up," he looked up to see a glass of juice in front of his face. He should have been more suspicious but if he was to be harmed it would have already been done.

Not to mention he was thirsty.

He gulped down the beverage in three big, loud gulps.

"Thanks," he grunted as he handed the glass back to the vaguely familiar pink-haired girl... Sakura?

"It's okay," she reassured him,"you'd been unconscious for close to sixty hours, some disorientation is to be expected."

Sixty hours? How long was that? Two... three days? Memories flooded his mind. Kakashi, team seven, a missing girl, undead bandits, Oto...

"The mission?" he said hoarsely.

"We didn't find the girl if that's where you're asking."

"What is this place?" he asked.

"We're in a resthouse," Sakura explained as she helped him back on bed,"back in the Land of Fire."

"What happened?"

"You should rest."

"What happened?" he demanded, Sakura looked like she wanted to argue but seemed to relent after seeing the look on his face.

"You got hurt and lost a lot of blood," she explained,"I healed your wound and Naruto led us out of Kusa back here... we dropped the people in a hospital," she added as an afterthought probably wondering if it mattered to him.

It didn't. Something else did though.

"You saved my life?"

"Its my job," Sakura shrugged,"and you saved my life first and got hurt doing it as a matter of fact."

Sasuke didn't bother to point out that it was his oversight in failing to secure his prisoner that endangered her life in the first place. Thankfully his mistake didn't cost anyone but himself and by the looks of it, it wouldn't be all that high.

They sat in silence for a while before Sakura broke it again,"Why did you do it?" she asked hesitantly as if not quite sure if she wanted the answer.

Any other time he would have blown her off or fired an insult. At the moment however he couldn't summon the energy to do either. Maybe it was the lack of blood or the drugs he was sure he had been given for treatment but he found himself answering in a way that was completely out of character for him.

"I don't know," he said,"my body just moved on its own."

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto poked his head through the door of the room and his eyes widened imperceptibly at seeing him awake,"so he's alive," he said neutrally as he walked into the room, his eyesore of an orange jacket was back and so were the whiskers.

Sasuke scoffed and didn't deign to respond as he got off the bed ignoring Sakura's protests, feeling the need to answer nature's call and to get away from the genin, even if temporarily.

**XxX**

"You know I think we were looking at it all wrong," Naruto said his eyes thoughtful and fingers tapping impatiently on the table where the remains of their meal remained while Sasuke seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, ignoring the two of them.

To be fair it was surprising he joined them at all. But then one probably couldn't be picky about dinner companions after having gone over two days without sustenance.

"Let it go Naruto," Sakura said exasperatedly,"we've done everything we possibly could."

Sakura was beginning to get a really annoyed by his... single-mindedness. While it was somewhat admirable, he didn't know when to give-up, and she was in no mood to tear down another enemy base just to grasp at non-existent straws.

It had been more than two days since they had taken down an Oto-base while looking for a missing girl. In the process Sasuke had gotten hurt, trying to protect her... something she still had mixed feelings about. It went against everything she knew about the Uchiha. If she had to make a list of all the people that she knew who could take a kunai for her, he would be right at the bottom of it. With his borderline contemptuous treatment of her that went back to their Academy days she couldn't really be faulted for thinking that... and yet.

"Hear me out here," the genin persisted after a brief bout of silence,"why did we assume she was kidnapped?"

"You mean she wasn't?"

"We know she didn't want to get married," he said,"we know she wanted to the run away, we know she did run away and even took the help of her fiancé to do so, everything she did was of her own free will."

"She decided to volunteer herself to be an become a brain dead minion to a crazy scientist did she now?" Sasuke said mockingly joining the conversation,"Is that what you're saying?"

"No," Naruto said ignoring the sarcasm,"I'm saying what if she never went to Kusa and completely avoided becoming a brain dead minion to a crazy scientist?"

Sakura was beginning to think the genin was losing it. Did failing the mission really affect him that badly? Failure could hardly be something he wasn't used to. His current rank was an obvious indicator in that regard. But maybe that's why it meant more to him after all and all things considered

"Naruto," she said patiently,"the caravan she was traveling in was attacked and that's where she was taken."

"Yes, she was in the caravan and the caravan was attacked," Naruto continued undeterred,"but why are we assuming she was in the caravan when it was attacked?"

He must have realized he wasn't getting through to them and that only made him more agitated,"Come on guys, keep up," he said exasperatedly,"the caravan was going to Kusa because it had reason to get there, to sell stuff or whatever, but what possible reason could Mei Arisawa have for going to Kusa?"

"Avoiding an unwanted marriage sounds like a good reason to me," Sakura said dryly.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed,"but she just needed to leave Sumer to do that... which she did."

What Naruto was saying was beginning to make sense to Sakura and though Sasuke seemed to have lost all interest in their conversation and had gone back to staring into space,"If she didn't go to Kusa," Sakura mused,"then where did she go?"

Naruto deflated visibly,"I don't know."

The three of them fell silent once more. Sakura wasn't completely convinced by Naruto's arguments but it did give her something to think about. However, she was in no mood to go on another wild goose chase. In midst of all this her eyes were drawn to a poster on the wall of the eatery.

A poster like this one was commonplace enough. She had seen dozens of them during the course of this mission alone. But she had never had any reason to look more closely at it... till now.

Annual Traveling Art Symposium.

The poster proclaimed in calligraphic letters. A memory of Mei Arisawa's bedroom flashed in her mind along with the words spoken by her mother.

'She loved to paint.'

"Guys," Sakura said, her casual tone belied the gravity of her next words,"I think I know where Mei Arisawa is."

**XxX**

The Traveling Art symposium was housed under a huge canvas tent close to fifty feet in height and nearly three times in diameter took up a sizeable portion of the half-acre ground it was in. The place was fairly crowded but fortunately they didn't have to wait in line to gain entry. The entry fee itself was paltry.

The same couldn't be said about the items on display though.

Paintings, sculptures, pottery, embroidery you name it.

Sakura had been to a few art galleries her mother had dragged her to, but none of them could match this scale. The fact that they would be moving all of this to another town made it even more impressive. Even Naruto looked moved Sasuke on the other hand was his usual impassive self. She was sure the Uchiha would ditch them as his interest in this mission was peripheral at best and yet.

The crowd itself was was varied from young couples out on a date to families looking for respite from their daily mundane lives. Nobles looking for the next item in their collection to art connoisseurs and critics looking for the next big thing.

There were worse places for Mei Arisawa to be.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," a familiar voice called out, "but you guys are late."

Hatake Kakashi walked over to them in his usual languid way, one hand raised in greeting. The image he was portraying was a far cry from the leader who had given them a dressing down less than a week ago.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded.

"Would you believe if I said I was here to enjoy the art?"

"No," Naruto said,"not at all."

"Then I guess I'm here for the same reason you are," Kakashi led them to another section of the symposium as he spoke, "though I have to say being here has been... enlightening. Did you know there are fifteen different schools of sculpture-car..."

"Cut the crap Kakashi!" Sasuke interrupted the jounin, "how long have you known she wasn't in Kusa?"

"I suspected," he admitted, "but there was a chance that she had indeed been kidnapped and it was necessary to look into it."

"We risked our lives," Sakura said furiously, "are you saying that was for nothing?"

"You infiltrated and destroyed a base of an enemy of Konoha and rescued dozens of their prisoners not to mention possibly stopped future attacks," Kakashi said, "I wouldn't call that nothing."

Sakura tried to muster her anger but failed to do so, even Sasuke looked furious only Naruto remained unaffected. Through the cloud of irritation fogging her mind the implication of his words struck her.

"How did you know that?" she demanded.

"Its my business to know," he said cryptically.

Sakura realized that in a relatively straightforward manner he had praised their work.

"Ah!" Kakashi said as he led them to an unattended display of paintings, "we're here. I made acquaintance of the artist a few days ago, a most charming young woman by the name of Tsuki and while this is the first time she has displayed her work I'm sure Sakura will find it similar to that of our missing friend."

Indeed it was. Sakura could see the similarity in the style of the paintings here and those she had seen in Mei Arisawa's bedroom. The liberal use of colours, the aggressive brush strokes were things she had come to associate with Mei's style.

"And here she comes," Kakashi said drawing their attention away from the paintings and to the painter who approached them. The real Mei Arisawa was a far cry from her photographs. Gone was the prim and proper lady in kimono and replaced by a relaxed if somewhat tired looking woman dressed casually in a skirt and blouse. Her face flushed with pleasure when she saw Kakashi. It seemed the jounin had downplayed his association with the girl.

"Hatake-san," she said, "good to see you back."

"Likewise Tsuki-san," Kakashi said graciously, "I would like you to meet my team," Kakashi made the introductions and they greeted the budding artist. Naruto and herself did anyway, Sasuke just grunted noncommitally.

"So," she took her place by the display, "have you decided on what you want to take?"

"Yeah," Kakashi laughed awkwardly rubbing the back of his head, "about that, I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest with you Tsuki-san... or should I say Arisawa-san?"

Her face paled at Kakashi's words and she nearly collapsed but managed to hold herself up.

"Did my parents hire you?" she asked after a while.

"Yes," Kakashi said, "they did and they are rather distraught by your disappearance."

"I wish I didn't have to put them through this," she said regretfully, "but they left me little choice."

"You don't want to get married."

"No, I don't... not yet anyway," she admitted.

"So you ran away," despite the words his tone remained devoid of any disapproval.

"I would've gone back," she protested, "The day my parents announced my impending nuptials was the day I learnt about the symposium. I just wanted to do this one thing for myself... just for once in my life and people have liked my work. I'm even being offered contracts."

Despite all the trouble this girl had caused, a part of Sakura found herself admiring her. It couldn't have been easy doing what she did knowing it was only going to earn the disapproval of her family. That kind of courage had to be commended and it was something she could empathize with.

"As much as I sympathize with your situation I'm afraid we still have a mission to complete."

"I understand," Mei said resignedly.

"However," Kakashi said and the girl looked up her eyes hopeful, "There are still a couple of days before the symposium concludes, and I suppose it won't be too much of an inconvenience for us to stick around while you finish this."

**XxX**

Guren waited patiently for her master to speak. She doubted her master would be pleased with the news she brought. More often than not she had seen the messengers of bad news bear the brunt of his temper.

"Is there anything that could be salvaged?" he finally spoke, his cold voice breaking the silence.

"With time, maybe," she replied, "the entire place has collapsed, but there's a possibility that with some of it has escaped complete annhilation."

After a brief bout of silence he spoke again, "Cease all activities there, its a lost cause anyway."

"The enemy got hold of the Doctor," she decided to point out.

"Inconsequential."

"Of course master," she hesitated just for a split-second before continuing, "there is one other thing."

"Go on," he permitted.

"We lost most of the surveillance footage of the attack," she said, "however I had some of the blood samples in the scene analyzed."

"And?"

"One of them belonged to Uchiha Sasuke."

The silence that followed her declaration was deafening and yet when he spoke his voice was as calm as ever though tinged with a hint of humour this time which was probably more dangerous, "So, the prodigal son returns."

His reaction caught Guren by surprise even if she didn't show it. She expected his reaction to be a lot more... life threatening, instead he was just amused as if being indulgently tolerant of the acts of an errant child.

"Is that all?" he chuckled as if knowing what she was thinking.

"Yes master."

"You may go."

"By your leave," she bowed before stepping back, "Orochimaru-sama."

**So there you go. Hope you liked this. I might take a break with this one as I've neglected my other stories, unless I'm convinced to change my mind that is(Hint:Hint). Don't forget to leave a review 'cause I'm just not feeling the love guys. And before I forget, a belated happy new year. **

**Until next time.**


	11. The Follow-Up

**_A/N: Been a while since I updated. But real life gets in the way of fanfiction sometimes. Anyway, I'm here now with a new chapter. Enjoy._**

**_The Follow-Up_**

_The boy sat in the chamber assigned to him as he awaited his room was barely large enough for one person. The size of the room coupled with the whitewashed walls gave the room a very utilitarian look, almost resembling a prison._

_They could have at least waited till the end of the hearing, he thought to himself wryly. Despite the precariousness of the situation he couldn't bring himself to care all that much about the fate that awaited him._

_Whatever it was, that they had in mind for him couldn't possibly be worse than what he was going through. A part of him wished it would be though._

_His family hadn't been allowed to see him. He felt grateful for that, even though doing him favours was probably not their intention. He would rather not face his loved ones at the time of the greatest shame of his life and save them the ordeal as well. He wanted to spare them the pain if he could. His old man would handle it. He would be worried of course. But he was equipped to handle it. He doubted his mother could though. She was a headstrong woman with big dreams for her son. Dreams that were fueled by his pride and joy she had felt in his achievements was palpable._

_He feared she had flown too high and the fall couldn't have been pretty. Her son had failed in the worst way possible._

_It was almost a relief being away from her at this time. _

_"They're ready for you Nara-san." He dragged himself away from his thoughts to look at the source of the voice to see a bespectacled girl, maybe a couple of years older than him, donned in a chunin vest not unlike his own. _

_Except he may not keep his for long._

_He joined her without a word as she led him to his hearing._

_He kept his eyes on the panel of judges, seated on an elevated platform a few feet higher than his own as he listened to the charges against him with morbid detachment._

_The listing of his offences alone had been going on for the better part of ten minutes. Reckless endangerment of his subordinates and breaking of protocol were the least serious of them. These people sure loved their formalities. He turned to share his brief moment of amusement with his cheerful, potato-chips munching, rotund best friend only to realize... he wasn't there._

_Not anymore._

_The realization of the loss pierced his heart like a dull, rusted, slow-moving kunai, just like it had the first time... and every time his subconscious led him there._

_"..ra-san."_

_Someone was being summoned. Was it him? Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Couldn't he get a goddamn minute?_

_"NARA-SAN!" the voice thundered breaking him out of his grief-induced trance. With a start he realized where he was. The lone woman on the panel, an aged veteran glaring at him like a predator surveying its prey, as if wondering how much he will struggle before she swallowed him whole._

_He took another moment to collect himself even as he felt their patience running thin._

_"Yes?" he said finally acknowledging her._

_"I said," she said slowly and despite himself a part of him found himself admiring the amount of condescension she managed to put in those words, "do you understand the gravity of the charges leveled against you?"_

_"Yes," he said._

_"Do you have anything to say in your defence?"_

_"No."_

_The entire panel shifted uncomfortably as if they hadn't expected this turn of events. He knew they expected a fight... a defence no matter how flimsy, from him, and it seemed he had denied them that._

_"Did you understand my question?" she asked._

_"Yes," he replied slowly and clearly meeting her eyes this time._

_"We have read your mission report, is there anything else you would want to add to it?"_

_"No ma'am," he said._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Yes, I'm sure."_

_The woman turned to the man on her left and spoke to him in hushed tones. Shikamaru was surprised he failed to notice him. He wasn't the kind of man you could ignore even if you wanted to. He was old, wrinkled, lacked an arm and had his left eye bandaged along with most of his torso. _

_He looked utterly disinterested in the proceedings... or maybe he just had one hell of a poker face. After a short conference with the man she spoke again._

_"Very well," she said, "in that case we will proceed with the testimony of the only other survivor of the mission designated B-108972," she turned to the chunin manning the doors to the room, "Summon genin Uzumaki Naruto."_

**XxX**

"You're drooling on the books."

Shikamaru woke up with a start to find himself at the receiving end of a disapproving glare from a bespectacled chunin. It took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings straight as he realized he had indeed been drooling on the books.

"Yeah," he said, his voice thick with sleep as he tried to wipe of the saliva from the books and only managing to smear it, "sorry about that."

She merely pursed her lips at his actions even as he gathered the books.

"That book is outdated."

"What?"

"That book you were using as a pillow," she said, "is outdated."

"Yeah, well this was the only one I could find," Geopolitics in the Elemental Nations, read the cover of the book. He rubbed his eyes trying to alleviate the headache that was beginning to build up.

She stood around biting her lip and now Shikamaru was beginning to wonder what her deal was?

"I'd recommend 'Hidden Motives of Hidden Villages'," she said, "kinda pretentious title but its been rumored to have been written by a kage and

I've found that the guy actually knows what he's talking about."

"Oookay," Shikamaru got to his feet as he turned to return the books and the chunin followed him speaking rapidly and he tried to tune her out.

Was this what having a fangirl felt like? As a kid he and the rest of the guys used to make fun of the way half the female population at the Academy used to throw themselves at Sasuke. Now he found himself empathizing with the Uchiha. He supposed he could tell her to take a hike but he wasn't an asshole.

"... and then of course there's..."

Shikamaru was beginning to have a headache, so he did the one thing he could to shut her up.

"Thank you."

"... is good but I'm sure you aren't- say what?"

"I said... thank you..." he paused expectantly.

"Shiho," she said.

"Thank you, Shiho-san," he said tilting his head, "you've certainly given me a lot to think about."

"You're blowing me off aren't you?"

For the first time since she cornered him he took a moment to study her and she seemed vaguely familiar, but for the life of him he couldn't recall where he had seen her. To make matters worse he had a feeling that she definitely remembered him.

Fortunately he was spared the need to respond and make an awkward situation worse.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence Nara-san."

He had never thought he would have a reason to be grateful for summons issued by the Hokage, "Okay let's go then," it then occurred to him it would be bad manners to just leave like that.

"I'll see you around, I guess."

**XxX**

"Danzo-sama requests an audience Hokage-sama."

Shimura Danzo was the last person she wanted to see right. Her mood had been soured by the lack of news of Team-7. She hadn't heard from Kakashi since he left with the team and it had been days since she had any news whatsoever. The man was a competent shinobi but damn if he didn't get on her nerves.

She was fairly certain he did it on purpose too. But he was one of the few people she could trust, not to mention the importance of his role in her plans.

Him and the newly reinstated Team-7, which in his own words was about as functional as a 'defective exploding tag'. As dangerous to her goals as to her foes. Unfortunately it was a gamble she had to take. Konoha's future was at stake here. To make matters worse, she couldn't even keep track of the whereabouts of the one member who was still in the village.

Thinking about her wayward jounin and his team however wasn't helping her mood and facing Danzo with anything less than her best was... unwise. She was tempted to deny him, simply for the fact that he tried to meet her without making an appointment

On the other hand...

"Show him in."

The man bowed and a few seconds later she found herself at the receiving end of a baleful glare of the one-eyed cripple.

"Hokage-sama," he gave her a short courteous bow before pulling up a chair.

"Danzo," she said shortly, "what brings you here?"

"I just wanted to take this opportunity to see our legacy. You can understand the sentiment of course."

Tsunade suppressed the impulse to curse out loud. Now she knew why he was here.

Evidently Team 7 was back from their mission... or rather on their way back. Any relief she could have garnered from this news was surpassed by her annoyance at the fact that Danzo knew of their whereabouts better than she did.

Danzo's message was loud and clear.

You may wear the hat, but I am still in-charge.

Not if she had anything to say about it.

"Can't say I do," she said, "considering your opposition to it."

"You have to understand what Team-7 means to me to understand my opposition. But since you have chosen to undertake this endeavor anyway despite our objections... I look forward to seeing what they have to offer."

"I've known you to be many things Danzo," she said as she leaned back on her chair and folded her fingers, "but sentimental is definitely not one of them, so why don't you save both of us the time and cut the crap, I don't have the patience for it."

Tsunade allowed herself a small smile. She doubted Danzo had ever been confronted as openly ever before. Provoking him probably wasn't a good idea, but her actions were already taking her along the path which would eventually lead to a direct confrontation with the old war-hawk.

"Hokage-sama?"

"What?" she barked at the secretary who had interrupted them.

The chunin gulped nervously before speaking, "Hatake-san and Team-7 are back from their mission."

"Looks like you're gonna get your wish Danzo," she said before turning to the messenger, "show them in."

The chunin bowed hurriedly before retreating out of the room as the team marched in led by Kakashi. This was a big moment. She was seeing them altogether for the first time after all.

Her eyes first fell on the Uchiha. Cold, aloof, superior and dangerous. Just as expected.

The girl was intriguing to say the least. A lot of potential that was yet to be realized. She needed trials and dangers to mould her into what Tsunade needed her to be. She almost felt sorry for her for what she was about to put her through.

Then there was the genin in all his blonde and orange glory doing his best to keep that goofy smile off his face to respect the decorum of her office. She was tempted to give him the chunin vest if only to spare her eyes the grotesque vision that was his choice in clothes. Just looking at him for any stretch of time was enough to give her a headache.

He was also her secret weapon. Her ace-in-the-hole. The S-ranked jutsu in a kunai fight. The one they will never see coming.

Not until it was too late.

And then there was Kakashi. Cool, relaxed and languid, with his 'I couldn't give a fuck' demeanor.

"Team-7 reporting Hokage-sama," Kakashi stepped forward and bowed, the action was mimicked by his team.

At least he had the decency to keep his porn away.

Now if only...

"Chunin Nara Shikamaru reporting Hokage-sama," the final member of the team said as he entered her chambers, panting slightly

And now she had the complete set.

"At ease," she commanded and they straightened, "report."

"Mission designation B-19853 Finding and Retrieval of Mei Arisawa has been satisfactorily concluded, Hokage-sama."

He was following protocol. Kakashi never followed protocol. That was the first sign that he had something to say that couldn't be sai in present company.

"Any complications?"

"Nothing we weren't capable of handling, it was a simple case of a runaway. Not a kidnapping or a murder as was suspected."

At those words she saw the other three shoot Kakashi mutinous looks, which he either failed to notice or ignored completely. Knowing him it was probably the latter.

She would have preferred a more thorough briefing but it wasn't a good idea with Danzo still in the room.

"Locating missing civilian girls was hardly what we had in mind when you said you wanted to reform Team-7 Hokage-sama," Danzo remarked.

"Yes, well fortunately one of the few perks of being a Hokage are that I get to ignore what others have in mind when I make decisions, and now as much as I would like to entertain you further I'm afraid I'll have to cut this meeting short."

"As you wish," he said slowly getting to his feet, "Hokage-sama," he gave her a curt bow before shuffling out of the room. On his way he acknowledged the Jounin with a muttered 'Hatake-san', who returned the courtesy with a small bow and 'Danzo-sama'. At least Kakashi played the game well.

Tsunade wanted to believe that she got the better of him in that encounter but she doubted it.

But she had more pressing concerns at the moment.

"Hatake, Nara stay," she said, "the rest of you... dismissed."

"What did he want?" Kakashi asked once his team had left.

"Who knows," Tsunade sighed as she leaned back into her chair, "but I get the feeling he got it."

"I know him," the Nara blurted out.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Tsunade retorted, "he presided over your court-martial after-all."

She saw his face blanch at her words. Well, too bad. She didn't have the time to spare his feelings.

"Anyway," she turned her attention back to the jounin, "how did they do?"

"They've proved they're capable of working together."

"...And?"

"Under the circumstances, that's the best news I can give you. Their competence was never in question. Their ability to function as a coherent team however...was."

"And those concerns have been laid to rest?"

"Not even close," the jounin chuckled, "if anything I think the situation has actually worsened," he must have picked on her rising killing intent because he hurriedly explained, "but then things have a habit of getting worse before they get better."

"And do you believe things will get better?"

"I really don't know Hokage-sama. This was always going to be a gamble," he said, "you knew this."

She had to admit he had a point. Just not one she particularly liked.

"I want the mission report first thing tomorrow morning," she said.

"I'll do my best."

Tsunade cursed inwardly. She probably won't be getting that report before mid-day. But it wasn't a battle worth fighting.

"Dismissed."

The jounin bowed to her before disappearing in a burst of leaves.

And then there was one.

"Permission to speak freely Hokage-sama?"

"Granted."

"Was I supposed to listen to all that?"

"What do you think?"

The chunin remained silent but she could see the gears turning behind his shrewd eyes. She knew he had his misgivings about his job and that's why he was special. Any idiot could swing a kunai. But few had the faculties to judge which way the kunai should be directed, who should be the target... whether there should even be a target.

Nara Shikamaru was one of the few who was gifted with the faculties to make that judgement.

"I think you're making a power-play," he said, "which is strange considering you hold the highest office in the village, and that means the post of a Hokage isn't as powerful as it used to be... if it ever was."

"Keep going."

"I did some research on Team-7, a team under the direct authority of the Hokage...namely yours, and it seems your play of power is highly dependent on their success."

"You would be right."

"I have one simple question Hokage-sama," he said, "who is Shimura Danzo?"

Tsunade felt a smile blooming on her face at that question. Nara Shikamaru was already proving himself to be a worth ally.

**XxX**

"Welcome to Budding Blossoms sir," the matron said in a pleasant if somewhat practised manner, "we cater to all needs and bring to life all your desires, would the young master like a look at our catalogue?"

"No need," Sasuke said, "I'll take room 6."

"The young master has good taste," she bowed, "please follow the guide."

The guide was a pretty girl of about eighteen, dressed in a purple kimono with pink flowered patterns. This establishment was known for its discretion. The privacy of the clients and the patrons was one of the better kept secrets in Konoha. Sasuke was lead along a series of locked rooms meant for but one sinful purpose.

His guide unlocked one of them and escorted him inside.

"Make yourself comfortable," she said, "your hostess will join you in a bit."

The room was dimly-lit with a queen -sized bed with its headboard attached to the wall. There was a sofa and a coffee table there as well. He decided to remain standing.

His guide returned with a tray laden with a glass filled with a blue liquid. Sasuke raised a quizzical eyebrow at his host.

"Compliments of the house young master," she said with a smile.

"I don't drink," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Its not alcohol."

"Then what is it?"

"Let's just say its something... to help you on your way."

In any other place Sasuke would have taken this as a cue to plunge his blade through her and walking away after burning it suppressed that impulse and instead just took the offered glass and knocked back the drink in a single gulp.

It definitely wasn't alcohol.

His vision blurred as he stumbled forward.

**XxX**

There was a single bulb hanging overhead, throwing just enough light to illuminate his position and the unoccupied chair separated from him by a table. He wasn't tied up, though he had been relieved off his weapons and he doubted if he could use his chakra in this place.

Not that he needed them. He was lethal enough without them. He doubted he would need his skills as an assassin though.

The considerably low threat of death and violence didn't make this meeting any less dangerous though. Sasuke had learned long ago that there were things worse than death and not all dangers threatened life and limb.

He picked up a faint tapping sound approaching closer and before long his host stood before him, escorted by a pair of masked ANBU.

"Uchiha," Danzo said grimly as he took the unoccupied chair, "you got my message."

"You weren't very subtle," Sasuke retorted, "you asked for me and I'm here, so what is it you want?"

"Mind your tone boy," he said, "Don't forget it was I who gave you the means to pursue your goals after you had been discarded by your master."

"And you extracted your price for that bit of favour if I recall," Sasuke said through gritted teeth, "we're even."

"Are we?"

"Yes."

The silence between them seem to stretch for an eternity before Danzo broke it again.

"A great number of disturbing rumours have been circulating regarding Otogakure's resurrection. So, are you sure you don't want to rephrase your answer? Because if Orochimaru.."

"Orochimaru's dead," he said flatly.

"He has fooled better shinobi than you boy."

"Better shinobi like yourself, perhaps?"

"Don't test me, because if he's alive I may have to rethink our arrangement."

"Is that why you brought me here Danzo?" Sasuke asked mockingly, "to threaten me?"

"No, I brought you here to make another deal."

"Can you get me reinstated back as a Hunter-nin?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing that I want."

Danzo impassively placed a file on the table, "this is a record of your brother's activities we have been able to keep a track of since he left Konoha... so tell me," he pushed the file towards him with his bandaged arm, "could I possibly have something you want?"

Almost involuntarily Sasuke's arm went towards the file. Danzo was right.

There was nothing he wanted more. But his fingers were just inches from the file when it burst into fire and was rendered as ashes.

Sasuke clenched his fist and scowled at the older man, but otherwise kept his temper in check.

"Unfortunately it isn't much use to you," Danzo said, "as long as you're a part of Team-7 that is."

"You can't pull me off?"

"I can't go against a direct order of the Hokage... not unless I have a reason to."

"Is that what you want?" Sasuke asked reading between the lines, "for me to undermine the Hokage?"

"What I want is none of your concern," Danzo said, "now...do we have a deal?"

Sasuke didn't trust Danzo. But he was offering everything he wanted.

Just like last time.

"We have a deal."

**XxX**

"Someone by the name of Kakashi is asking for you Sakura-san."

Sakura suppressed a smile at the ignorance of the nurse. She was not to be blamed though. How was she to know that the name she was taking so irreverantly was the most feared and respected man in Konoha bar none? Among the shinobi anyway. To most of them the Hokage was the face of the ninja population and that was where their familiarity ended.

Sakura sighed and then smiled apologetically at her patient before directing him to another resident. It had been three days since they had returned from their clusterfuck of a mission. She was certain that with the way things had gone her stint as a member of Team-7 had ended. After all no one had told them what would happen next. Even the Hokage seemed like she couldn't wait to get rid of them.

So, the next morning when she had gone to put her name in the mission roster again, she was denied. The chunin clerk had told her that her cell hadn't been disbanded yet. Kakashi probably hadn't gotten around to do it yet. It wasn't surprising considering the jounin's lax attitude towards most things.

She had returned again the following morning and was told the same thing. Feeling a little perplexed but realizing there wasn't much she could do about it she decided to pick up a few shifts at the hospital and wait for her summons.

She wouldn't have to wait long it seemed

The jounin was seated in the waiting area and was engrossed in one of the coffee table magazines.

"Did you know that the Majin bull-frog's singing can be used to predict the rainfall?" Kakashi said without removing his gaze from the magazine, "of course the frequency of their song increases during the rainy season which is typically a mating season for them so maybe they're just horny."

"Fascinating," Sakura deadpanned, "how long have you been here anyway?"

"A while," he said turning another page, "I was just sitting here,reading the magazine, when the good nurse asked me about my business, so I told her I came to see you."

"Guess I'll leave you to it then," Sakura said turning on her heels.

"Well since you're here anyway," Kakashi said hurriedly getting to his feet, "let's talk."

"You want to talk here?" Sakura said sceptically.

"I don't see why not."

Sakura considered him for a while, waiting to see if he was joking or not, eventually deciding she didn't care enough and seated herself facing him.

"You can ask your questions Sakura," he said, "I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability."

She had a lot of questions she wanted... no needed the answers to. But she wasn't sure where to begin.

"Why me?" she said evntually.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that."

"I get why you chose Sasuke and Naruto," she said, "but why pick me?"

"I'll be honest with you Sakura," Kakashi sighed, "you weren't my first choice, when Hokage-sama approached me with the idea of leading Team-7."

"Then why?" she said trying to ignore the pang of disappointment in her chest.

"Because the Hokage insisted," Kakashi said, "she said you would provide the one thing this team needed that they would otherwise lack."

"And what is that?" Sakura demanded.

"Hell if I know," Kakashi said, "but I'm sure she has a legitimate reason other than meeting the quota for women representation in shinobi squads. Though you gotta admit, avoiding the perception that she has more confidence in her shinobi than the kunoichi is a fairly good reason all on its own. "

Sakura really wanted to punch him, but figured doing so will be frowned upon, especially with so many witnesses around. She could cite sexual harrassment and probably get away with it too.

"And what do you think?" she asked putting that plan on the backburner for now.

"Ask me again if you survive the next few months," he said replacing the magazine on the table and getting up, frowning and then snapped his fingers as if recalling something "oh I nearly forgot, be at the Hokage tower on Monday at 9 AM sharp, and tell the boys as well."

**XxX**

Shikamaru started the projector, and the first slide projected the image of a young man with curly brown hair dressed in a green gown meant for surgery.

"Shiba Murusame," he said, "five years ago he was one of the brightest civilian medics to have graduated from the Kaen Medical Academy in the Rice Country. He left his residency midway however and had been missing ever since."

"Why does he look familiar?" Naruto asked.

"That's because you ran into him during your last mission and probably know him by his moniker, 'The Doctor'." Shikamaru explained, "After Naruto showed me his appearance using the Transformation technique I did some research into missing prodigious medics. My work was made easier when I narrowed down my search to coincide with unexplained casualties in their workplaces."

"After our friend became a resident there was an uptick of 20% in the hospital fatalties during the next three months," he continued, "such a spike couldn't be explained away as simple margin of error and you can imagine what happened next."

"How did the hospital get away with this?" Sakura questioned.

"Obviously someone in power has a big stake in the hospital," Sasuke scoffed, "a scandal like that is enough to annihilate any reputation the hospital has."

"That's correct," Shikamaru said, "the hospital does indeed receive patronage from some very powerful people in the Rice Country's Daimyo's court, they probably just found it in their interests to make it all go away than allow an investigation."

"It'll be your job to investigate these deaths," Tsunade said taking over from him, "find out who else was involved and the connection to Oto."

"And why will the Rice Country allow foreign shinobi to investigate matters they didn't allow their own people to touch?" Sasuke retorted, before seemingly remembering he was directly contradicting his leader, "Hokage-sama?" he said more respectfully.

Tsunade smirked, "That's because you won't be carrying out this mission in official capacity."

"Are we going undercover?" Naruto's eyes shined brightly.

"Sakura is," Tsunade nodded, "the rest of you are to remain incognito and provide support. Naruto, visit some of the old contacts and see what you can dig up."

Naruto's face which had turned morose on finding out he wouldn't be the one going undercover brightened up when he heard of his role.

"Sakura," the Hokage said, "as the medic in the team you'll be running point on this one. You'll infiltrate the hospital as a civilian medic using the pretext of being a candidate for the medic exchange programme we have with the Rice Country, the rest of you will act as her shinobi escorts, though you won't be allowed inside the country," she turned her gaze on the genin, "Naruto?"

"I'll get us in," he said resolutely.

"I'll skewer you if you make me use a river kite again," Sasuke threatened.

"Just suck the joy out of everything, won't ya?" the Uchiha didn't relent on his glare however, "fine," Naruto conceded, "we won't use river kites this time... happy?"

"I'll find my own way inside if you don't mind," Kakashi said, his nose buried in another volume of Icha-Icha.

"Suit yourself," Naruto said nonchalantly, "you don't know what you're missing."

"I'll find a way to live without satisfying my burning curiosity."

"Can I come with you?" Sasuke asked the jounin, his voice barely betraying his hope and dread.

"Sorry Sasuke," the jounin said without looking up from his book, not sounding sorry in the least, "but you can't."

Sasuke shot a hateful glare at the jounin who disregarded it completely.

"Alright," the Hokage intervened, "that's enough. This mission won't be numbered or designated till its completion. In other words, its off the books and I hope I don't have to tell you what'll happen if you're caught. Good. You've got," she looked at her watch, "three hours to depart. Good luck and may the Will of Fire burn brightly in you."

**So that's that. Initially I just wanted to make this a transitional chapter with a lot more character development but after three months people deserve better. They deserve more. So plot advancement it is. The chapter is a unedited so feel free to point out the mistakes. If you have any questions/queries regarding the story, leave me a PM or a review and I will get back to you. Don't forget to leave a review. They are a writer's nourishment. Food too. But we aren't doing this for food.**

**Until next time**


	12. Complications

**A/N: So... its been a while(that's beginning to sound old). Anyway new chapter. **

**Oh yeah nearly forgot, those of you who don't follow this story on DLP I would suggest reading the last chapter once more. There's a pivotal scene I hadn't added till a few weeks back. But since its been so long and all a quick recap. **

**Team 7 successfully completed their last mission by defeating the 'Doctor' and his legion of brain-dead minions revealing a deep connection to Oto in the process. Sasuke meanwhile is revealed to be in cahoots with Danzo who wants the Uchiha to be his inside man on Team 7 which Sasuke acquieses to in return for being reinstated back as a Hunter-nin. Team 7 is then dispatched on a covert mission to Kusa to further investigate the nature of the Doctor's experiments and their connection to Oto.**

**Yeah... that should do it. Anyway **

**Enjoy**

**Complications**

"Good job at the surgery today Sakura," Daichi said as he watched the woman discard her green hospital gown and placing it in her assigned locker, "we thought for sure the pateient was a goner."

"It was nothing," she turned around and graced him with a polite smile, "he just needed a boost to get him going till the chief surgeon did his thing."

Daichi studied their latest import from Konoha. Brown hair tied up in a bun, with a few strands hanging over her face, dark rings around tired eyes… all evidence of the long hours spent working the night shift. Not unusual for the people in their profession.

Despite all that he had to admit she was an attractive woman and even after seven straight hours in the ER she moved with an effortless grace he wasn't used to seeing. Combined with her somewhat cool and distant if polite demeanor and competence usually seen only in veteran surgeons she had quickly become a hot topic of discussion among her peers and superiors alike.

"Some of us are going to get drinks after work," he said somewhat nervously, "you wouldn't by any chance… I mean would you… if you're free?"

Pull yourself together man!

"I'm afraid I can't," she said finally putting him out of his misery, "I have clinic duty… maybe next time."

"Of course," Daichi smiled trying to curb his disappointed as he walked away to join his friends who were on the other end of the locker room.

Sakura sighed as she watched her reflection in the hospital restroom. She still had trouble getting used to the hair and eyes… both brown to conceal their true colours. At least she got to keep her first name. It was the only thing about her which didn't stand out so she got to keep it.

The water had done little to remove the traces of exhaustion and worry from her features. The former was a result of the demands of her cover-job as a civilian intern at the hospital and the latter the product of her real one.

On the way to Kusa she had been told to set up shop and lay low while waiting for the rest of the team to contact her.

She had done precisely that.

Now almost two weeks later without so much as a word she was wondering if she hadn't misinterpreted the instructions because if there was one thing she had learnt about Kakashi in the limited time she had known him it was that either he was either testing her or pulling her leg, often both at the same time. She wouldn't put it past him to say that he wanted her to lay low and expecting her to take the initiative, just so he could rip her a new one if she didn't or doing it anyway for not following orders.

Sadly that was one of the more optimistic scenarios. The others involved the team failing to get into Kusa or captured or killed or captured and killed.

The door to the washroom opened startling her out of her thoughts. The woman who entered paid her no mind as she hurried to one of the stalls. Sakura gave herself a few more seconds to bring her heartbeat back to its normal rate before exiting. She still had work to do.

XxX

"You wouldn't mind taking a few more patients will you?"

Sakura resisted the urge to groan as she turned towards the receptionist. She looked overworked, flustered and on the verge of a panic attack.

"Its just that I was sure I was on top of the things tonight," the receptionist continued to blabber on, "had all the appointments lined up perfectly, but now… now it seems I missed some and I can't schedule them without disturbing the entire roster…"

"I'll take it," Sakura said.

The receptionist nearly collapsed with relief at those words and handed her a bunch of files, "Thanks, you may have just saved my life."

The woman wasn't really exaggerating. Hospital administration didn't take kindly to lapses like that. She had seen people fired over less in Konoha. Kusa, it seemed was no different.

Still it was the end of a twelve hour shift and she just volunteered for what looked like at least another couple of hours of extra work.

Sakura cleaned the cut with some antiseptic as the little girl sobbed. Sakura did her best to distract her from the pain but was having little success. It wasn't that deep. She could seal the wound in a few seconds if she could use her medical ninjutsu. But her cover as a civilian doctor demanded that she spend fifteen minutes stitching it up while doing her best to calm her down.

Just one more to go and she could retire for the day. Well for a few hours anyway. She picked up the file. This one just needed a check-up. She pressed the buzzer to admit the next patient and as she studied the file's contents... she realized her day had just become a little more complicated.

Name Kohaku Arakida, gender male, age thirty, profession… shinobi.

"May I come in?"

Sakura turned to face her last patient of the day and had to fight to contain the gasp that threatened to escape her lips. Dark brown trousers with matching shirt underneath a bluish-green flak jacket signifying his status as a jounin.

The worst part... Sakura recognized this man.

He was the same jounin whose team had captured her during the last mission before she was rescued by Kakashi. Sakura could feel her disguise melt off her face as the man frowned in contemplation on seeing her.

"You okay ojou-sama?" he said, concern colouring his voice.

"Yes," Sakura said weakly, "yes I'm fine," she repeated doing her best to keep the nervousness out of her voice. She realized she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"You sure?"

"I've just had a long day and I wasn't expecting to have to examine a shinobi," she said, "I thought the ninja had their own medic programme."

"Oh they do," he assured her, "but someone in the upper echelons had the brilliant idea that there needs to be more interaction with the civilians so every third mandatory medical examination needs to be done by a civilian medic... you know, do a better job of convincing them that we aren't all monsters," he chuckled morbidly at his observation.

"In that case I think that purpose will be served better if someone else did your examination," Sakura said, trying to make one last attempt to escape the shinobi's attention, "considering I'm not..."

The man raised his hand halting her protests, "Listen doc, the nurse out there made me wait for over two hours and to make matters worse this thing has been due for a month and if I delay it any longer, the boss above won't clear me for duty... so think you can help me out... just this once?"

Sakura bit on her lip as she considered her current conundrum. It wasn't a good idea to spend any amount of time with a high-caliber ninja when you are on a clandestine mission in their village. It went doubly so when your last encounter with the said shinobi hadn't gone well for you.

At the same time, refusing now would just increase suspicion if it hadn't done so already.

Feeling she didn't have much of a choice she sighed and finally said, "Take your vest and shirt off and lie down."

XxX

"No major health issues from what I can tell," Sakura said after fifteen minutes of working on the jounin, "your blood pressure is on the high side of normal and there does seem to be some minor tissue and muscle wear and I'll have to wait for report on your blood work to give a more objective assessment, but I doubt you'll have any problems getting back on duty."

"Thank you," the jounin said as he strapped on his sandals, "you just saved me a lot of hassle."

"Don't mention it," Sakura said while marking the samples of blood and tissue she had acquired from him, "you can collect your report tomorrow by 5 PM from the reception, it'll save you the trouble of coming here."

"I really wouldn't mind."

Sakura froze. Either the man was looking for excuses because he suspected something or... he was flirting with her.

Sakura wasn't sure which scenario she preferred.

Thankfully she was spared the task of coming up with a suitable reply as the door to the room opened to admit a janitor who apologized on seeing it occupied. Before he could leave Sakura stopped him, telling him they were done and the shinobi took that as his cue to leave.

"He's too old for you."

Sakura felt her heart threaten to exit her chest as she turned to the janitor who had dropped that comment while busily wiping the floor. He might have been disguised rather well beneath a cap drawn low, which coupled with his posture hid upper half of his face, but she would recognize that cool tenor anywhere.

"Sasuke?" she gasped her hand over her heart trying her best to avoid hyperventilating, "what the hell?"

"Shut up and listen," the disguised former hunter-nin muttered, "I need you to take up that offer your colleague made about drinks later."

It took Sakura a while to realize what Sasuke was talking about as she flashbacked to the awkward encounter she had with one of her co-workers a few hours ago.

"That was you?" Sakura didn't try to keep the accusing tone out of her voice.

Sasuke didn't bother replying as he left the room as abruptly as he had entered, leaving her in more that a little confused.

XxX

An ace of diamonds, a deuce of clubs and a jack of spades were revealed after the flop commencing another round of betting. After ten years of being a dealer, he could claim to be something of an authority when it came to poker games and their players. The players usually fell into four categories.

The first kind were the casual players. They played the game as a hobby. Their bets were safe, and they never went overboard with their money. They knew their limits and knew when to walk away... usually.

The second kind consisted of the addicts. They are a step-up(or rather down) from the casual ones, making bad bets more often than not in search of that big elusive pay-off which would make up for their previous losses. These were the kind which usually ended up in drains with their organs harvested to pay the debts.

The third were the professionals. They knew exactly what they were doing so much so that they had made it their living. They treated poker games like the games of strategy and psychology that they were. They understood that poker was a game where you play the player and not the hand you have been dealt.

Then there were the show-offs. The ones who had more money than they knew what to do with and hence frequented the gambling dens.

The table he was dealing at the moment had players from all four categories. The best player at the table was a blonde blue-eyed youth. And it wasn't because he had the most chips at the table either because he didn't. To the casual observer it would seem as if he's barely keeping himself afloat. But to his experienced eye he could tell the boy was just biding his time.

After the first few rounds of betting the pot now exceeded five hundred thousand ryo. The turn revealed another ace and things got really interesting. Two of the players folded, the rest persisted. A couple of checks, a couple of raises and the consequent calls later the pot stood at nearly seven hundred fifty thousand ryo. The game had managed to attract an audience by now and each round of betting was now accompanied by oohhs and aahss. The river revealed a jack of diamonds.

By the time it was time for the showdown there it was down to three players and the pot was now worth over a million. One of the players flipped his cards to reveal a flush resulting in another round of ooohhhs followed by a round of applause. The second player just cursed and flipped his cards away in disgust without revealing them.

That just left the blonde kid and a tense silence fell over the crowd. The kid tapped his fingers on the table for a few seconds as the tension kept growing until...

"We haven't got all day kid," the man with the flush said, "just get it over with."

The boy finally sighed and flicked his cards away before leaving the table as the crowd around the table broke into applause once again, several of the spectators surrounded the winner to congratulate him by slapping him on the back and shoulder. The man for his part reveled in the attention, flush from his victory.

The dealer for his part felt confused. He was sure the boy was gonna clean the table out. Did he read him wrong? His attention fell on the cards that laid facedown near the pile of chips. He turned them over to reveal... two aces.

XxX

The blonde man pushed his way through the crowd after leaving the gambling table, dodging waiters and other patrons before finally reaching the bar placing himself a few seats away from the group of latest entrants. Their excitement shining through their otherwise tired visages. Naruto recognized the type. The ones who just realized how high-stress their jobs really are and compensated by losing all restraints when it came to blowing off steam. He would know.

One of them however stood out from the rest. A brunette who didn't quite seem to be in as festive mood as the rest. She kept herself a little aloof from the rest. She was obviously not part of the group and seemed to be an add-on. Probably invited by the guy who kept trying to engage her in a conversation.

He wasn't having a lot of success.

She seemed fidgety and detached from the atmosphere of revelry around her and her eyes kept darting all over the place. He smiled to himself and beckoned the bartender.

XxX

Sakura had been part of rowdy parties before. The party to celebrate her promotion to chunin came to mind. Ino, who had organized that party had pulled out all stops. Most of her memories of that were clouded in a haze of loud music and alcohol induced amnesia.

As fun as the party had been, compromising herself like that when undercover amongst strangers could not possibly be a good idea. Moreover she doubted Sasuke's reasons for leading her here had anything to do with allowing her a night out.

A server approached them with a tray of glasses filled with blue drinks.

"We didn't order this," one of her companions, Hina a resident from the department of neurology said as the drinks were laid on the table.

"Complements of the gentleman," the server said pointing to a young, blonde man with rather striking good looks who toasted them from his seat at the bar, before making his way to them an easy-going smile playing on his lips.

Sakura watched her companions receive him with a degree of enthusiasm that implied their familiarity with him. Judging by the way the women treated him at least some of the affection showered on him went beyond platonic.

"Taichi!" one of the girls she knew from her surgery rotation, whose name escaped her got up from her seat and squealed before greeted him with a hug.

"Hey Midori," he said returning the hug, before turning to the rest who followed her example and took turns to welcome the blonde man.

Someone was popular, Sakura thought to herself.

"And who might you be?" Taichi asked her offering his hand which she took, "I don't believe I saw you here last week."

"Taichi this is Sakura, intern from Konoha transferred to Kusa," Midori introduced her, "Sakura this is Taichi, he's here from Tanzaku Gai."

"I'm not actually from Tanzaku Gai," the man laughed, "it's just the last place I was in and when I heard the Land of Rice was getting a gambling town of its own I just had to get here," he turned to Sakura, his eyes shining with interest, "so you too live in a shinobi village huh? Can't imagine what that must be like."

"Its not so bad," Sakura said defensively, "shinobi are human beings, just like the rest of us," she felt stupid as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Yeah," Daichi, the guy she recalled as the one who had asked her to join the pasrty deadpanned as he sipped his drink, "if regular humans could breathe fire and disappear at will."

"Personally, I'd never trust someone who lies and kills for a living," Taichi declared, "let alone live in a place run by a group of them, no offence to you guys."

A chorus of 'none taken' by the rest of the group followed that statement and Sakura couldn't help but frown. She got the feeling that the rest of her colleagues were at least partly in agreement with Taichi.

"Do you know what the average life expectancy of a civilian is Taichi-san?" Sakura asked.

"No," he replied after a moment of nonplussed silence, "I can't say I do."

"Barring any incident a regular civilian on an average lives for sixty four years," Sakura said, "an average shinobi is expected to die before their twentieth birthday, it drops to fifteen during times of conflict."

"When they aren't providing security to the areas when the Daimyo forces are stretched too thin, they lose their lives in the line of duty doing missions brought to them by civilian clients," Sakura continued, "who, by the way, most of the time aren't even completely forthcoming in order to save money by paying for a lower ranked mission and in return for all their service and sacrifice they get to earn the fear and ridicule of everyone else."

At the end of her tirade, Sakura realized that everyone at her table and the neighbouring ones had gone quiet and were now openly staring at her. The loud music only served to amplify the awkwardness that arose from the lack of conversation.

"Wow!" Taichi said an impressed grin on his face, "that was very well put Sakura-san. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a shinobi yourself." The table broke into relieved laughter, as the tension resulting from her outburst seeped away.

XxX

"We're secure," a voice from called out from inside the room. That was all the confirmation she needed to get in. The room was a little brighter than the rest of the club, which wasn't saying much, but it did allow her to get a better look at her teammate who hadn't dropped his henge, even in the privacy of the room.

Not that he had a lot to drop. He hadn't even bothered to change his hair or eye colour. The only significant difference to his face was the absence of the whisker marks on his cheeks and how his usual spiky hair was now slicked back. The most drastic change, however, was the absence of his eyesore of an orange jumpsuit, which he had exchanged for blue turtleneck underneath a cyan robe and beige trousers.

She had to admit these changes while minor had a drastic effect and suddenly the orange jumpsuit that was part of his ninja attire made perfect sense. No one could take an orange wearing shinobi seriously. In that moment she had an epiphany about her teammate.

Naruto Uzumaki was never out of disguise. He just changed one for another.

She was certain if she wasn't expecting him and he hadn't sought her out along with the rest of her temporary colleagues she would have written him off as just another reveler instead of her teammate.

"We can talk freely," he assured her probably picking on her anxiety, "this place is is completely eavesdropping proof and I've checked the place for surveillance seals. We could set off a bomb in here and no one outside will be wiser."

"How much time do we have?" Sakura asked while occupying one of the cushioned seats in the room. They were firm but comfortable.

"As much as we need," he replied, "I've left a clone transformed as you along with the rest of your gang so that no one misses you."

Sakura had to admit that Naruto seemed to know what he was doing. Not something she could say for herself unfortunately.

"Where's Kakashi?"

"Sasuke's tracking him down as we speak."

"Tracking?" Sakura frowned, "you mean you don't know where he is?"

"Not a clue," the disguised blonde replied cheerfully.

"And why is it that you're so upbeat about that?" Sakura glared at him, which didn't seem to affect his mood whatsoever.

"Well," Naruto said, "it used to be his job to track down ninja who don't want to be found and I doubt Kakashi wants to hide from us. Trust me, he'll find him."

"That's a lot of confidence on someone you don't even like," Sakura retorted.

"I'm not saying the guy isn't a total dick," Naruto said, "and if you repeat what I'm about to say I'll deny it, but the bastard's is very good at what he does, its the reason he was chosen after all."

"Chosen to do what?" Sakura shouted.

If Naruto was taken aback by her outburst he didn't show it. Instead he just gazed at her as if wondering if she could handle what he had to say.

"What do you think is going on here?" he asked instead.

"I don't know what's going on," Sakura gritted her teeth, "one moment I'm a regular medic-nin running regular missions, the next thing I know I'm part of some sort of clandestine cell running off the books ops," Sakura paused to take a calming breath, "so you tell me Naruto, what is going on, because from where I'm standing you know a hell of a lot more than you have any right to?"

Naruto didn't seem offended by her not-so-subtle jab at his rank and just sighed heavily as he leaned back on his seat.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "its been a long couple of weeks and I've been on edge for a while now."

"Its alright," he assured her, "sometimes you need to vent. Its not healthy to keep things bottled up. High stress jobs like ours."

"How do you deal with it?"

"You just have to get used to it I suppose," Naruto shrugged, "talking and socializing with people who have nothing to do with the mission helps."

"Speaking of which," Sakura said, "how the hell did you get them to treat you like they did? I doubt you met them more than a couple of times and yet you might as well have been long lost friends going by the reception you got."

"There's no secret to it," Naruto chuckled, "a few rounds of free drinks and you're everybody's best friend. You'd be surprised how candid people get under influence."

"Oh yeah?" Sakura said, "and how does a genin afford drinks in a place like this?"

"Why gambling of course?" the disguised genin said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Gambling," Sakura repeated sceptically.

"I'll have you know Taichi Nakamura is a professional gambler of considerable notoriety in certain circles."

"I'll take your word for it," she conceded, "so what did you find?"

Naruto took a deep breath, "The Director is having an affair with one of the residents behind his wife's back, there are talks about setting of an inquiry committee on the embezzlement of funds from the hospital trust and then there was talk of some frigid bitch from Konoha who thought she was all that."

"Wait what?" Sakura asked completely nonplussed.

"Yeah it is pretty scandalous," Naruto said, "the Director is in his seventies and the resident barely..."

"Go back to the part about the frigid bitch from Konoha," Sakura hissed.

"Oh that was just Tamaki-chan blowing steam, I doubt she meant anything by it," he waved the matter away as something of inconsequence, "she's the dark-haired one with the highlights in case you were wondering."

That manipulative bitch!

Sakura knew her alright. She had taken an extra shift for her when she pleaded. Her generosity was misplaced it seemed. Who knew that pleasantly mild manner concealed a vicious persona.

Apparently some people didn't need ninja training to master the art of deception.

"And you got all that in one evening over drinks?" Sakura said sceptically.

"People like talking," Naruto shrugged noncomitally, "all I give them is an incentive and a willing ear."

Sakura was torn between being impressed and apalled. Just by befriending a few young medics over drinks during a night out Naruto had gained access to the inner workings and politics of the hospital while she barely knew their names of all her colleagues.

"So," Sakura shook her head trying to get the conversation back on track, "did you find anything more relevant than the sexual orientation of the Chief Surgeon?"

"If by relevance you mean anything related to our resident psychopath ," Naruto replied, "then no. In my defence a question like 'what can you tell me about the mad doctor who killed dozens of patients in the name of scientific advancement?' is kinda hard to squeeze into a casual conversation."

He had a point. Unfortunately, that did nothing to remedy her situation. She felt completely out of her depth and not for the first time.

"I'm not an interrogation or an infiltration specialist," Sakura said, "I've never been on an undercover assignment. This is not something I should be doing. Just what the hell was the Hokage thinking?"

"You've gotta stop selling yourself short Sak..."

"I can do a heart transplant in the middle of a warzone with nothing more than a scalpel and a band-aid," she snapped, "Trust me, I'm not selling myself short."

Naruto raised his hands placatingly.

Her rant over, Sakura's shoulders slumped in despair.

"I don't have the answers you seek Sakura-chan, all of us are in the same boat except for maybe Kakashi," Naruto said after a couple of moments of uncomfortable silence, he could probably tell from the look on her face that she wasn't going to be satisfied with that so he added, "I do have a theory though."

"Care to share?"

"It's a power-play."

"What?" Sakura asked nonplussed.

"Us, Team-7, these missions," Naruto explained, "Its all a power-play... The Hokage's power-play."

"Now you're just pulling my leg," Sakura scoffed, "The Hokage already is the most powerful figure in the village, why the hell would she need to make a power-play?"

"Because the Hokage may not be as powerful as you believe... not anymore," Naruto said, "maybe sometime during the reign of the Sandaime and the current Godaime the power wielded by the office of Hokage was diluted to the point that the one holding the position was little more than a figurehead."

"And how do we figure into this?"

"Oh you're gonna love this," Naruto said rubbing his hands together and eyes shining with barely concealed excitement, like a showman revealing the climax of his trick, "did you know that the future Hokage candidates are screened from Team-7?"

XxX

For the second time in as many weeks Sasuke found himself making his way into a whorehouse with the intention of meeting a shady superior. If he wasn't careful it would become a pattern. Pattern meant predictability and predictability meant death in his line of work.

It couldn't be helped though. When it came to being the kind of place Kakashi was likely to squat his ugly mug down, it ticked all the boxes.

In addition to the noticeable absence of law enforcement officials it also happened to be the kind of place where people asked few questions and anonymity was virtually guaranteed. The Yakuza who ran these kind of places enjoyed the patronage of people in power. Sometimes that included officials from the Daimyo's court and sometimes the Daimyo himself. There were times when Sasuke had tracked many an errant missing-nin to these establishments, but never had he killed one while they were on the premises. It brought more heat than it was worth, not to mention the chances for collateral damage.

Still, it was a good place to pick up a trail or in this case his team leader. Just thinking those words made him wish to drown his brain in acid. At least he had taken steps to remedy his situation. If his deal with Danzo worked out he wouldn't have to be part of this circus act any longer than he has to.

Infiltrating the building had been child's play. A minor genjutsu on an errand boy and a transformation technique was all that was needed for him to gain access to all the rooms in the pleasure hotel. No one gave him a second so much as a second glance as he picked up a laundry basket and made his way to the top floor. To keep up the pretense he even collected bedsheets and clothes from the rooms. They smelled of sweat, tobacco, sake, sex and incense. It wasn't a pleasant combination but he succeeded in suppressing the urge to throw up. It was early morning so most of the professionals were getting ready for bed as was demanded from their usually nocturnal vocation.

That made his job that much easier.

Soon he was at the last room in the top floor of the building. If Kakashi wasn't here then he would have to repeat the procedure all over again. And after spending the entire night combing three similar establishments, he wasn't sure he had the fortitude to keep going.

If he didn't find Kakashi here, he would be putting a chidori through his heart the next time he saw him, Sasuke promised himself. Few things could be more poetic than losing your life to a technique that you created.

He turned the doorknob to find it unlocked. Sasuke frowned as he walked in. The sole occupant of the room was lying facedown in the bed amongst twisted sheets covering the lower half of her obviously naked body. Long brown hair fanned out around her head on the pillow. There was no sign of another occupant.

A hand landed on his shoulder, "Let's take this to the roof shall we? Wouldn't want to disturb the poor woman, she's had a long night."

A quick application of chakra prevented Sasuke from stumbling at the end of that impromtu shunshin. The cool and fresh morning air was a pleasant change from the stuffy insides. The sun was just making its way up in the horizon signalling the coming of dawn.

"I could've just slit your throat just now," Kakashi remarked.

"I would've gutted you first," Sasuke retorted showing him the kunai he had hidden amongs the laundry, "which isn't something I've taken off the table yet."

"At least I'd have died without regrets," Kakashi said, "can't say the same about you unfortunately."

Sasuke scowled at the jab, "I noticed," he said, "you certainly seem to be having a good time."

"Its a pleasure house," Kakashi shrugged, "would look suspicious if I didn't avail their services. Speaking of which, getting a henge down is more than getting the appearance right, that's transformation ninjutsu 101. I can pick out that scowl from a mile no matter what face you're wearing."

They could do this all day and Sasuke was running out of time and patience, "This place secure?" The look he got from Kakashi in response to that question was all the confirmation he needed, "We've got problems," he said, "Sakura's been compromised."

Kakashi turned a grim eye on him, "Explain," he said shortly.

Sasuke gave him the complete rundown of the week and Kakashi listened without interrupting.

"... he personally sought her out and insisted on getting her to give him a check-up," Sasuke concluded, "he tried to disguise it as an inconvenience, but he was definitely interested. As for the nature of that interest..." he trailed off.

"You sure this was the same jounin who captured Sakura," Kakashi asked.

"Positive."

"You're right," Kakashi said, "This could be a problem,"

Sasuke scoffed, leave it to Kakashi to underplay things, "I suggest we extract her and find alternate means to proceed."

"Extracting her now would only raise more questions," Kakashi countered.

"Not doing so will get her killed or worse captured," Sasuke said impatiently, "she's been made, staying the course at this point is foolishness."

"Be careful Sasuke," Kakashi said, "or I might start thinking you're actually concerned about a teammate."

"If you're going to be obnoxious then I guess this was a waste of my ti..." once again Sasuke's reflexes stopped him from getting smacked in the face with a scroll.

"Give that to Naruto," Kakashi said as he buried his nose in his preferred paperback, "he'll know what to do."

Sasuke opened the scroll and studied its contents, "The moron is a counter-intelligence expert now?" Sasuke mocked.

"Among other things," Kakashi said without taking his eyes off the book.

Sasuke glared at his former mentor, "What's going on Kakashi?"

"You're going to have to be more specific than that."

"If I went to specifics then we would be here all day," Sasuke retorted, "but let's start with the most immediate one, why didn't we approach our local contacts because I doubt we lack a network here."

This was Sumer all over again. Sasuke's recognition of patterns went beyond his abilities with the sharingan. If he didn't nip this in the bud right now, he would find himself in the middle of another clusterfuck.

"Between the three of you, you've everything you need to complete the mission," Kakashi said, "this is a covert operation, we can't risk our other operations. I thought you understood that."

"Is that what it is?" Sasuke said, "or does the Hokage not trust her own forces anymore?"

"Last I checked you're a part of the Hokage's forces," Kakashi said with his usual nonchalance, "and she is trusting you to complete the mission without endangering our other operations here. "

The man had one hell of a poker face. His attempts at catching the jounin off-guard had been all for naught. Realizing there was no point in lingering any longer Sasuke turned to leave.

"You know its rude not to avail the services of the house once you've come in," Kakashi said just as he was about to leave, "something to keep in mind for the next time you're here."

Sasuke turned to see the retreating figure of his old sensei walk back in. Even in the cool morning Kusa air he found himself breaking into a cold sweat as he realized that his secret meeting with Danzo might not have been gone unnoticed.

XxX

Naruto considered himself an 'in the moment' kind of guy and because of that he was more aware of what he missed having in any particular moment. Usually that meant money for an extra bowl of miso ramen or a job which paid better than the regular D-rank. At that moment, he wished he had a camera to immortalize the the expression frozen on the face of his teammate.

Until his amusement turned to worry.

"Sakura-chan," he said tentatively waving his hand in front of the seemingly catatonic girl's face.

"So you're telling me," she said as if she hadn't spent the last couple of minutes frozen as a statue, "that we are unwitting pawns in a power struggle within the Konoha hierarchy."

"I wouldn't say unwitting..."

"And the Hokage is using Team 7 to take the first step towards shifting the balance of power," Sakura continued now on a roll.

"Umm...'Using' is such an ugly word when used like..."

"And if she succeeds then what?" she mused out loud, "she gets to choose the next Hokage which as you say will come down to the three of us?"

"Five actually," Naruto corrected her, "You forgot Shikamaru and Kakashi is actually the most likely to get the hat next," he leaned back into his seat as he studied her expression, "there's more to it than that of course but yes, that's one of the many..."

"Yeah," Sakura deadpanned, "I'm not buying it."

Naruto didn't expect that, "Why not?"

"I'm sorry," she chuckled apologetically, "its just that this sounds very outlandish."

"Doesn't mean its not possible," Naruto said, "and its just a theory anyway."

"Let's say you're right," she sighed, "with all the resources and manpower at her fingertips why would she choose us? I mean I'm sure she could do better."

"If she could she wouldn't need us, would she?" Naruto said, "she chose the people she felt she could trust."

"Well I guess I'll wait for the day she trusts me enough to share all this personally," she retorted

Naruto sighed heavily. Sakura was trying to bait him into doubting his conclusions and in turn probably probably soothe her own unease. But then he recalled one of the first lessons Jiraiya taught him.

"Walk over to the other side kid and things start looking a hell of a lot more different than they do from this side of the window."

"I don't think you can see anything through that window ero-sennin."

"I was speaking metaphorically brat!"

"What does mepharotically mean?"

Putting himself in her shoes he could see why it would be hard for her to get on board with what she was being told. In a profession where the only certainty one had were your orders he just tried to plant a seed of doubt.

Also, to be fair to her, for someone who had just been told that her home was on the verge of a civil war that she'd just been volunteered to, she was taking it quite well.

And by taking it well he meant being in complete denial.

At least she wasn't calling him a complete lunatic or running in the opposite direction or done anything remotely hazardous to his life or limb.

Others would call it low expectations.

Naruto called it a win.

"Either way," Sakura said, "I doubt whatever the Hokage has planned will be my problem anymore."

"And why's that?"

Sakura gave him an account of her day ending with her examining a Kusa jounin, the same one who had captured her during the last mission and then Sasuke instructing her to come here.

"So, either he's on to me and waiting for me to make a mistake in which case I'm screwed or his interest in me is genuine in which case I'm still screwed because I doubt my facade as a civilian will hold the scrutiny of an elite ninja once he starts looking closely," she took a moment to catch her breath, "I came here hoping to see Kakashi..." she concluded

"And you got me instead," Naruto finished dryly.

"You know what I mean," she said.

"That's okay," Naruto said, "it was my fault that you got captured in the first place. But thankfully Kami has given me a chance to redeem myself."

"You got a plan?" Sakura asked, her tone a little dubious.

"Not yet," he said cheerfully, "but more on that later, what has your progress been so far?"

"Not much," Sakura admitted, "the records are a dead-end and since I can't examine the bodies there's not a whole lot I can do."

"Can you get me a list of all the victims' families and their addresses?"

Sakura nodded, "I can probably manage that."

"Drop the list in the dumpster by the south-west corridor in the ground floor and I'll take it from there," Naruto said, "In the meantime I need you to take a look at this," Naruto handed her a pamphlet.

"Sunshine?" Sakura frowned after studying it.

"They're a non-profit organization," Naruto told her, "they provide scholarships and financial assistance for academically gifted kids. Guess who funded our favorite doctor's education?"

"I thought you said you didn't find anything related to the mission," Sakura accused.

Naruto shook his head, "No, I said I didn't get anything mission related from your colleagues," he said, "anyway, if we have to take shots in the dark there could be worse places to start," he extracted a scroll from his pocket bit his finger and swiped his blood across it. A puff of smoke later a few more scrolls appeared, he perused through each of them before choosing one and handing it to her, which she took with a bemused frown.

"I need you to go into their offices, see what they're about and report anything suspicious. I planned on going myself but it seems we have another problem that takes priority."

"And what is that?"

"A Kusa jounin who's getting a little too close for comfort," he motioned towards the scroll he handed her, "inside you'll find things you can use to aid you in this mission."

Sakura pocketed the scroll.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan," he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "everything will work out just fine and for what its worth I've got your back." Some of tension seemed to seep away from her as her shoulders sagged in relief at his gesture.

"Thanks," she muttered and even managed a smile.

It was a nice smile.

"Wait for ten seconds after I leave and then make your way to the restroom at the end of the corridor," he said more seriously, "after my clone transformed as you gets there and dispels, you can go and join your friends."

"Just one last thing," Sakura said, "exactly how do you plan on dealing with this problem?"

Naruto allowed a grin to split his face as he replied, "By turning it into an opportunity Sakura-chan."

**Character Profile**

**Kohaku Arakida**

**Affiliation: Kusagakure**

**Registration ID: KU0968**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Bio: Like most shinobi of his generation Kohaku Arakida made his name during the Third Shinobi War. A part of Kusa's dreaded Strike Unit, which he went on to later command, he specialized in ambush and surgical strikes inside enemy territory. His unit was responsible for wiping out the entire 13th platoon of Kumo in a joint operation with Konoha which later allowed Konoha to score a decisive victory against their rival.**

**After the war he watched his nation stagnate, partly due to the incompetence and neglect of the Daimyo and partly due to the rise of Otogakure its former glory all but a part of history.**

**So why do things get bad? So that they can get better obviously or maybe it just keeps getting worse. But then that's life and that's what this mission promises to be. Or does it? A lot of set-up for the things to come and I'll try to get the next chapter within a couple of weeks. **

**I just might have crossed the 100k barrier, so that's an achievement worth celebrating. Thanks to all the subscribers and reviewers. Feedback is highly appreciated. Feel free to discuss the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between and I will be more than happy to jump in.**

**Until next time.**


	13. Frenemies

**A/N: A very happy new year guys. Hope your year is going better than mine. On the bright side I managed to finish this bad boy, a little... fine a LOT later than I expected to. But that's not why you're here. Just for the record this fic has now crossed the 100k barrier(excluding the A/Ns). So, I can safely cross that off my bucket list. Now if only I could get those thousand reviews(only 912 to go). Anyway enjoy.**

**Frenemies**

Sasuke ducked under the haymaker before plunging his chokuto through the man's abdomen, making sure not to nick anything important. The curse seal marks faded and the man collapsed in a heap joining the rest of his... clique.

More than a dozen lay unconscious around him. Not a single dead, he noted with some satisfaction. It wasn't likely to change either. The curse seal gave an impressive boost to healing among other things.

It made one faster, stronger and damn near invulnerable.

On the downside it turned you into a complete imbecile, and eventually with prolonged use stripped you off all reason. Which meant they could be taken down relatively easily provided you knew what to do.

Sasuke did.

His rubbed the junction of his neck and shoulder unconsciously. It had been ages since he felt the pull, but being in close proximity to other curse-seal users had brought back memories.

That intoxicating mix of euphoria and power.

He repressed a shudder as he focused back on the task at hand. He pushed his way past the rubble that was blocking the hallway.

The stench of blood and feces helped him prepare for the horror that awaited him. Carcasses lined along the hallway in various states of decay. For a second he flashbacked to his clan home riddled with bodies of his kith and kin.

His curse seal throbbed violently. He grit his teeth. Now was not the time. The pain nearly sent him to his knees and he had to hold on to the wall to remain on his feet. He tried to control his breathing as he pushed the foul chakra out of his system.

Eventually the pain subsided, but it left him concerned... extremely so. That was twice in as many minutes that the seal had acted up.

He pulled himself straight and kept walking deeper into the hideout, occasionally checking the cells for survivors.

So far he had been disappointed.

Not so long ago this place was one of Orochimaru's most active laboratories for his twisted experiments.

And now it was just a remnant. One of several houses of horrors scattered across the continent with the bodies of the victims telling their tragic tale of pain and suffering.

It seemed like a good place to start getting some answers but that looked less likely by the minute.

_CLANG_

He might have come to his conclusions a little prematurely. He followed the source of the noise leading him to a closed steel door reinforced with bars.

But it definitely wasn't a cell.

Most likely the residential area or the laboratory of whichever sick bastard Orochimaru put in charge here.

Too bad the door was impenetrable.

Fortunately the wall was not.

He went through fifteen hand seals before as he changed the nature of his chakra to that of earth. It wasn't his element. A lightening technique of a similar rank would have cost a tenth of the chakra and not more than a couple of hand seals.

But he got what he needed as a portion of the wall collapsed in almost a perfect circle, just big enough to allow him through.

He was ambushed almost immediately. He didn't break a sweat in subduing his attacker, flipping him over his shoulder and pinning him to the floor with his foot.

His attacker wasn't a curse seal user. His clothes were in tatters, beard unkempt, and eyes wide with fear. Sasuke would feel almost sorry for the guy if it weren't for the headband. He could just about make out the insignia of sound.

"What happened here?" Sasuke questioned.

"Mon... mon..." the man stammered and seemed barely aware of Sasuke, "they ma... they made... monsters."

This man was no good to Sasuke, "Is there anyone else alive?" anyone who was coherent enough to give him answers.

"They... they said...that... that it would make them better," the man continued like Sasuke hadn't spoken, he was almost pleading now, "we... we brought them here to make them better," he grabbed Sasuke's arm with a strength uncharacteristic off his frail body, "but they created monsters... we created monsters," he was sobbing now.

"I know," Sasuke whispered as he wrenched his arm out of the man's grip and left him weeping on the floor.

A group of curse sealed monsters had now gathered outside the room trying to get in through the hole he had made.

He walked towards them and the agitated monsters made way for him. They hissed and snarled at him, but kept their distance and allowed him to pass unmolested.

He didn't turn around as they turned their attention to the sobbing man.

**XxX**

"So," the Kusa-nin said a little nervously, "a little heads-up as to what I should expect?"

"Nothing that couldn't have been picked up by your earlier examinations as far as I can tell," Sakura told him, "and if they weren't enough to keep you out of duty then I doubt I have anything else to add."

It had been over a week since she her meeting with Naruto in the nightclub. The lack of contact in the meantime had left her nerves frayed even more than usual. The scroll Naruto had given her hadn't done much to lower her anxiety levels either.

Along with a few brochures on the organization 'Sunshine' all it contained were a dress suit and a wig.

She could guess her next task and she would get to it too if only she had the go-ahead. She toyed with the idea of just taking the initiative and engage Sunshine herself, but she knew she had to wait.

She hadn't been entirely passive. She made a couple of trips to the club with her colleagues at the hospital enduring more flirtations of Daichi in the process. It was easy to ignore.

If only the same could be said about loud mouthed, orange wearing, blonde teammate, or rather his absence to be more precise in this case. She hoped for his sake he was doing something useful because she would be asking some questions the next time she saw him.

To top it all she now had a regular visitor in the form of a Kusa shinobi who was the reason for giving her sleepless nights when her shifts at the hospital wasn't. Though she had to admit after the initial apprehension of the first few visits she was beginning to at least get used to his company if not being outright comfortable with it. For some reason he insisted she give him a full check-up and Sakura obliged after some token reluctance.

It had to be said though that in all the time he spent with her he had not given any signs that he was suspicious of her.

She wasn't sure if she should be crediting his acting talents or her luck.

The jounin looked at her speculatively over his cup of coffee, "You don't approve of the way we do things do you Sakura-san?"

"You're missing three feet from your intestines, your lungs are fifteen percent scar tissue..."

"...perforated liver, damaged spinal column, a pelvis that resembles a jig-saw puzzle," he shrugged "mementos of the war... most of them anyway."

Sakura frowned at the casual way he just brushed aside the nature of his old injuries, "Frankly speaking its a miracle that you're alive. Most people would just call it a day and retire."

"Clearly I'm not most people," the man remarked.

"Don't you have a family Arakida-san?"

"Parents been dead for nearly a decade now," he said, "lost my elder brother during the war."

The man's shoulders dropped his eyes clouded with sorrow and despite herself Sakura found her heart swell with sympathy.

"What was he like?"

The man looked up to her in surprise clearly not expecting the question.

"I... I'm sorry," Sakura stammered after he failed to respond, "I'm intruding."

"It's alright," he said waving away her apology, "you're the first person to ask me that question. Most people just say they're sorry for my loss before awkwardly changing the subject."

"Guess I'm not most people either," Sakura said echoing his words.

"No," he said, looking at her rather thoughtfully, "you're not."

"So," Sakura said now that she was fairly sure that it wasn't a taboo subject, "were the two of you close?"

"No, we weren't," he said, "he was genin by the time I entered the Academy, and at the time I thought he was a pain in the ass."

"You miss him," Sakura stated matter of factly.

"Every morning before leaving for the academy he'd hide my shoes," he said, "used to take me hours to find them... and in all that time I never complained to my parents... not once"

He barely seemed aware of Sakura at this point, lost in his old memories. Sakura for her part felt like a voyeur, being witness to something so personal. It was a change from interactions with her teammates that was for sure.

"I always thought I'd get him back one day you know," he chuckled, "but the bastard was way too crafty... then the war began," he leaned back on his seat, "a border skirmish with some Kumo shinobi and my parents got to bury a finger, at least we thought it was his... we hoped it was his."

"When his friends and comrades were eulogising him at the funeral about how brave and great he was," he sighed, "all I could think of was how I'd never get him back for all the shit he put me through."

"I lost a patient once," Sakura found herself saying, "doing a high-risk procedure I'd never done before."

"Why did you do it?"

"Because at the time I thought that it was the best chance I could give him," she answered, "because I thought I could actually pull it off."

"You did your best to save his life then," he said.

"I did," Sakura said promptly.

"Then why do you regret it?"

Sakura wanted to deny it. This was something she had avoided confronting in all her sessions with Inoichi. She hadn't even talked about this with Ino and yet she found herself confiding in a stranger in a foreign land who was in all probablity an enemy.

"Because there was someone else," she said, "whom I could've saved. In the end I could save neither."

"That's rough," he said.

"Yeah," Sakura sighed, "it was."

"Can I take you to dinner?"

Sakura nearly cracked her neck in surprise at the question.

"Umm..." she tried to come up with something to say, "I'm not sure that'd be appropriate."

" Because I'm a shinobi?"

"Because I'm a doctor and you're my patient," Sakura said patiently, "this is the sort of thing that is considered unethical in my line of work."

"Fortunately," he countered, "'unethical' is my job description... at least some of the time."

"Maybe you're in the wrong line of work," Sakura smirked at him, while a part of kept screaming at her what the hell was she doing and the other urging her to keep going.

"Too late for regrets I'm afraid," he shrugged, "still haven't gotten an answer on that dinner."

"It's a bad idea."

"Still not an answer."

Sakura bit her lip, weighing her options.

"I can't do dinner," she said just as the expectant look on his face was about to turn into one of disappointment, "and its because I've got two consecutive night shifts."

"How about lunch then?" he persisted

"Fine," she conceded, "Saturday. Pick me up at eleven."

**XxX**

"You know you still have ten minutes before your break is officially over," the nurse at the reception told her as she collected the files for her next batch of patients.

"I just like to stay on top of things," Sakura smiled at the woman.

"And just for that you get this one," she said handing her an extra file on top of the pile she was already carrying before giving her a conspiratorial wink, "your next one is quite the hottie... you can thank me later."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she made her way into her assigned chamber. She studied the contents of the file with her brain barely beginning to register the familiar name staring at her.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," her patient greeted her cheerfully, "was hoping to see you here."

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed before she could stop herself before shutting the door to the chamber hurriedly hoping no one heard her.

"Where?" he said, his eyes widening comically as he looked around agitatedly.

"Cut it out," she snapped at him swatting his arm, "I nearly blew your cover... not to mention jeopardized mine."

"You need to relax," he said, theatrically rubbing the arm that she had hit, "my cover's fluid and yours is fine."

"I just screamed your real name to half the hospital," Sakura hissed.

"And no one cares," he shrugged, "a scream can get lost in the din here, I'd be more worried if you'd whispered, kinda like you're doing now because that's when people pay attention... and can you stop looking at me like that you're beginning to freak me out."

Sakura didn't ease up on her glare. But fortunately or unfortunately she was beginning to get used to his borderline reckless behaviour. He seemed to be the type that got off on prodding the sleeping dragon in the eye, just to see if he could get away with it.

This fact alone made him the most dangerous man she knew.

But she had her orders and she couldn't choose her teammates, so there was only one thing left to do.

"Did it ever occur to you that all this would be a lot easier of you could just meet me at my apartment," she said, "or if I could meet you... wherever it is you're staying."

"A stranger getting strange visitors invites a lot more questions than a doctor receiving a patient," he said sagely, "you still have a lot to learn."

"Excuse me for not being 'up to date' on spying techniques," she made air quotes as she spoke, "it got in the way of being a medic."

"You seem stressed," he observed, "when was the last time you had sex?"

It was probably Ino's influence and her own growing immunity to his antics that her only reaction to that quip was a roll of eyes. If that was the best he got...

"That Kusa jounin looked interested."

Sakura dropped her files in surprise, "You did not just say that," Sakura growled, "I'm not sleeping with a potential enemy even if its for the mission."

"I wasn't suggesting you do it for the mission," Naruto shrugged, "but if that would make you feel better about doing it I say go for it."

Sakura gaped at him, before shaking her head, "Yeah," she said, "I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Suit yourself," he muttered.

"Now," Sakura said trying to bring the conversation on track, "where the hell have you been and what have you been up to?"

"Jeez you're in a bad mood," he said, "but since you asked I'll have you know I was working on a way get inside Sunshine and take a look at some of their... projects."

"Couldn't we've just walked through the front door as interested donors?" Sakura asked, "and from the way they seem to be promorting their work it doesn't seem like any covert action is needed."

"You're right," Naruto agreed, "and that's why we... or rather you're gonna do, going in as legitimate donor."

Sakura could see the problems with this plan almost immediately, "To be a legitimate donor don't we need to make a legitimate donation?"

"Way ahead of you Sakura-chan," he said, "a sizeable contribution has been made by a rich but anonymous donor to the charity organization Sunshine. It should give them enough of an incentive to get a closer look at their books and projects."

"And exactly who am I going to be?" she nodded.

"You're the secretary to a rich and elusive noble with business interests in the country," Naruto said, "don't worry they won't ask you a lot of questions, they've got good incentive to not prod. They can't afford to offend their patrons after all... any questions?"

"What do I do if I need to contact you again?"

"That's not a good idea Sakura-chan," he told her gravely.

"Why?" Sakura demanded, "is it because I'm a liability on a 'need to know' basis? While the rest of your boy band is out kicking ass and taking names."

Naruto seemed dumbfounded at her outburst before he broke into a chortle.

"Boy band," he said trying in vain to stop the grin from breaking over his face, "that's a good one."

"I'm being serious," she swatted his arm but was struggling to contain her own laughter.

"You're not the liability Sakura-chan," he reassured her, "we are. Of the three of us you're the only one with a valid cover. We can't risk that."

Sakura felt like a petulant child and now felt guilty about her outburst. She felt she hadn't contributed anything to this mission and had in fact endangered it by attracting the attention of a jounin and she could only imagine the lengths Naruto was going through to ensure they had something to show for their efforts.

The money for the donation couldn't have come from Konoha's coffers which meant it was he who arranged it, most likely by gambling, not to mention working on giving her another cover and running investigation into Sunshine.

She had no idea what Kakashi and Sasuke were up to but she was sure they were being more productive than her.

"I know this hasn't been easy,"He handed her an identity card with her photograph on it along with... a kunai, "but trust me when I say we're almost done here."

"I have my own," she said handing the blade back.

"Keep it," he said, "that's a little more special than your regular off the counter kunai."

"What exactly am I supposed to do with it?"

"If you're in trouble without any backup," he said, his voice dropping as if revealing a secret, "just throw it."

"As opposed to?" Sakura said as sarcastically as she could but pocketed it anyway resolving to avoid using it. She hadn't forgotten the river kites.

"Trust me," he said, "it might save your life... any questions"

"Just one," she said, "when do I start?"

**XxX**

Kohaku couldn't help the smile on his face when he saw Sakura leave the hospital, looking harried.

"I'm sorry," she panted as she approached him, "work was murder."

"So was mine," he said, "I'm kidding," he added on seeing the look of horror on his companion's face.

She considered him for a while, a thoughtful look on her face as if wondering if she wasn't making a mistake.

"So," she said breaking the awkward silence, "where are we going?"

"Just a restaurant down the street," he said, relief coursing through his veins, "nothing too fancy."

He held the door open and she gave him a surprised smile, clearly pleased. He led her to a corner booth overlooking the street. They sat facing each other when the waiter arrived with the menus.

"You've got to try the chicken teriyaki here," he said, "its to die for."

"I'll take your word for it," she laughed, her brown eyes sparkling in the low light of the restaurant.

"I wasn't sure if this is the kind of place you'd like..."

"This is exactly the kind of place I like," she interrupted him, "its... nice."

"That's the last thing a man wants to hear on a date," he sighed.

"Its not you," she explained hastily, "its me."

"I take it back," he said, "that is the last thing a man wants to hear."

She smiled wryly at him, "I'm afraid I'm not being very good company tonight."

"What's on your mind?" he said leaning forward, "you do seem a little preoccupied."

"Just a little bit of this and that," she said airily, "I'm sure its nothing."

"Get it off your chest," he encouraged her, "I'm a good listener, I promise."

She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before finally surrendering, "I'm sure this is just me being paranoid," she said, "but have you ever felt like things are about to go wrong in the most colossal way possible?"

He held her gaze as he spoke, "Only every time I'm out in the field."

"Is that so?" she said, her weariness replaced by curiosity.

"It helps being paranoid in my line of work," he said, "It doesn't explain why you're feeling that way though."

His companion for the night reached for her glass of water and gulped down half the contents, "Am on a date with a shinobi in a near deserted restaurant in a country not my own away from family, friends or any kind of help," she said, "if your intentions are to cause me harm I'm afraid I'll be quite..."

"Helpless?" he offered helpfully.

"Yes," she breathed.

Their conversation was interrupted by the waiter arriving. He relayed the order for both of them.

"Despite your misgivings," he said once the waiter had left, "you're still here... wonder why?"

"I needed to satisfy my curiosity," she said.

"Regarding?"

"Your interest in me."

"You don't believe a man can be interested in a pretty woman."

"I do," she said, "just not sure that's the reason for your interest."

"And pray what other reason could there be for my interest?" he chuckled, shifting a little underneath the table.

"Are we still playing this game?" a raised eyebrow and a small grin which looked completely out of place made its way over her lips.

A kunai hidden beneath his sleeve slipped into his palm, "Guess the time for games is over," he sighed, "just one question before we begin."

"Shoot."

"Where's the real Sakura?" he asked, "if that is indeed her real name."

The statement was followed by the table between them being exploding upward as he barely dodged the tabletop as it went by his face embedding itself into the ceiling. He somersaulted over his chair landing on table of the booth behind him. His attractive brown haired brown eyed adversary was now a blonde man charging him.

He brought his knee up to block a kick, while countering with a punch which was blocked by an open palm. Kunai met kunai in a flash of steel, sparks flying in the clash.

Just by that initial exchange he realized it wasn't a good idea to engage in taijutsu. He felt like he was fighting a mountain.

If mountains could move with lightning speed and strike back.

And where the hell was his backup?

Changing tactics he threw half a dozen shuriken at him. To his surprise instead of parrying or dodging them, he ran straight through them.

"Shit," he was halfway through his hand-seals when he had to abandon it in favour of taking evasive action against the kunai which nearly took his head off, followed by a kick which he blocked with his arms crossed but despite that the power behind it the was enough to put him through a counter and smashing him to the wall. His reflexes saved him from the fist that embedded itself into the part of the wall where his head had been. He retaliated with a couple of knees to the abdomen doubling him over and managing to get him in a headlock.

Just when he thought he had the upper hand, he found himself smashed to the floor, knocking the breath out of his lungs. He maintained enough presence of mind to get to his feet and put some distance between them.

Jumping to his feet he flashed through hand seals half expecting to be interrupted again, but his opponent was comparatively more lethargic in getting to his feet, the wounds from the shuriken bleeding onto the floor. He finished making his seals and was about to channel his jutsu when,

"You'll blow your arms off if you do that," his bleeding enemy said, "I've blocked the chakra pathway in your arms, you force a jutsu and your veins pop like a water balloon."

He was right. He couldn't channel chakra beyond his wrists and his attempt at doing so could prove disastrous.

"And at this point," he grunted as he pulled a shuriken out of his shoulder, "you gotta be wondering where your backup is?"

"Are they alive?" he asked, fear and anger competed within his head.

"They're alive and unharmed," the blonde assured him, "relatively speaking of course."

He allowed himself to sigh in relief as he flexed his fingers, "Guess that puts ninjutsu off the table," he palmed another kunai.

"C'mon man," his opponent whined, "do you really wanna do this?"

"As opposed to?"

"Surrender?"

"You're bleeding out and I doubt you can afford to kill my comrades," Kohaku normally wouldn't be bantering in the middle of a fight, but he needed time. His adversary was bleeding out and he could tell his inability to use ninjutsu was temporary, "and since I'm still fighting you one on one I'm gonna say your friends aren't here to cover your ass either," he slipped into his taijutsu stance, "I guess what I'm saying is... I like my chances."

"You don't get it do you?" the blonde chuckled, "I'm not with my friends because I don't need them for this," he gasped as he dropped on one knee, " as it is I'll be the one joining them... after subduing and capturing you of course."

"Just out of curiosity," he said flexing his arm and channeling chakra finding that the block was gone, "how exactly are you going to pull off that miracle?"

"With you under my arm," he replied, "throwing up like a drunk genin on his first night-out."

A warm tingling sensation enveloped his arms signalling the opening of his sealed chakra pathways. It was time to shut up and finish this. His opponent apparently agreed with his non-vocalized thoughts as he rushed him at the same time as he charged.

Or he would have if he could.

His gaze dropped to the floor and felt his blood freeze when he realized he was standing inside a sealing array made of... blood unable to move. The same blood that had been dripping of the wounds of his opponent unable to move.

All this time he had been biding time without realizing his enemy had been doing the same.

Resigning himself to his fate he waited for the blow that never came.

The blonde man placed his hands on the floor and the seal glowed.

"Ninja art," he said triumphantly, "Reverse summoning."

**XxX**

Big blowout photographs of smiling children on a playground, older kids looking on attentively to a man demonstrating a chemistry experiment, of volunteers participating in disaster hit areas. Sakura counted six of them hung in the reception area itself. All of them with the caption of the name of the organization 'Sunshine' written on the top of them and the motto 'Creating a better world' at the bottom. All smiles, laughter and rainbows.

All in all this was the last place one would associate with a psychotic scientist posing as a doctor.

Which probably meant Naruto might actually be on to something here.

She scratched her head underneath her blonde wig. It was itchy. For the first time since during this mission she was glad that she wasn't made to wear a wig for her cover.

Her actual cover.

And now she was going in disguise to protect the identity of her cover.

She missed the time when the biggest complication in her life was her ex mistaking her to be having an affair with Ino of all people.

Moron.

She dumped him that day.

These people were taking their time. She took the time to check the rest of her disguise/attire. Her grey skirt went to her knees along with a matching full-sleeved blouse to go with her shoes with 4-inch heels. The outfit was classy and elegant. In other words, the perfect disguise for someone pretending to be a secretary to a rich and elusive billionaire.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura turned to see a woman rushing towards her looking flushed with embarrassment, "its been a busy day."

"I know the feeling," Sakura smiled.

"Well," her host said, "first of all I'd like to extend a thank you to your employer on behalf of the Sunshine family for his very generous donation."

"My employer believes in your vision," Sakura said.

"And we respect his decision to remain anonymous."

"You don't find that strange?" Sakura queried.

"Your employer won't be our first anonymous donor," the woman laughed, "it doesn't happen a lot but then again some of our largest donors prefer to keep their... privacy."

"Aren't you worried about the source of these donations?" Sakura asked.

"If you're worried about the legality of our transactions you don't need to be," she was told, "all of our finances are vetted by the offices of the Ministry of finance and commerce itself."

Sakura nodded as if satisfied with that explanation. But inside she was beginning to wonder why did an office under the direct authority of the Daimyo needed to be associated with a charity organization.

"Now as I understand your employer would like to take a personal role in one of our programmes," the woman inquired.

"That's right," Sakura nodded, "he wants to be more than just a donor and wants to be more... involved."

"And we would be grateful for his patronage," her host smiled, "just tell us the name of the programme your employer is interested in funding."

"Your youth programme," she said, "I believe its called..."

"Lighting the future," a middle aged grey haired man approached them dressed smartly in a formal blue kimono, "one of our most ambitious and dare I say successful projects," he bowed towards her, "I'm Hiro Ayazaki."

Information in the documents Naruto had shared with her swam in front of her eyes. Hiro Ayazaki, age fifty four, unmarried and the man at the head of the organization, "I wasn't expecting to meet the President of Sunshine on such short notice," she said returning the bow.

"That title is misleading I'm afraid," he laughed, "makes me sound like the head of a government or something, when in reality I am but a humble servant of humanity."

"The work you've done is remarkable," Sakura complimented.

"I can't take all the credit," the man said humbly, "most of what we do is possible because of the generosity of our patrons like your employer."

Sakura decided to ask Naruto exactly how much he donated later when she had the time.

"I'm sorry for this to be a bother," she said, "but my boss wanted to know the details of the project before he proceeded."

"He's welcome here anytime," he said emphatically.

"Actually I was hoping I could take a look," she said.

The man turned to his secretary and nodded who stood up following the gesture.

"Kana-san here will get you every thing you need," he said getting to his feet, "now if you'll excuse me."

"Of course," Sakura said mimicking her host, "it was a pleasure."

"The pleasure was all mine."

"Please follow me," the woman said once Hiro left.

The box was slammed on the table with a thud surprising Sakura. Sakura could see dozens of files crammed into it. It would take hours to get through it. She prepared herself for the tedious task.

On the bright side she wasn't being ambushed by enemy shinobi.

"We have five more boxes," the secretary said, "I'll have them sent over."

On second thoughts she would take the ambush.

XxX

"How secure is this thing?" Sasuke asked still trying to come to terms with the fact that they were inside a giant toad transformed as a house on the outside and if that wasn't enough the inside of the toad resembled an interrogation room.

"A squad of ANBU could be standing right on top of us and they wouldn't see anything amiss," came the reply, "this place is more secure than the fire maiden's chastity."

"How long till he regains consciousness?" he said changing the subject.

"Hard to say," his blonde companion shrugged, "I hadn't really used that shit before, so it might take a while."

"I expected incompetence," Sasuke sneered, "but downright sabotage... well even I didn't believe you could be that stupid."

"Well done, Uchiha," Naruto made a show of looking impressed, "you went almost two whole minutes without being an asshole. Now let's try harder and go for three shall we?"

"Boys boys," Kakashi interrupted, "don't make me send you to your rooms."

Sasuke glared at the jounin whose nose was buried in his book as usual. And just as usual Sasuke hadn't known he was there till he spoke.

"I have to ask however, why is our prisoner unconscious?" the jounin directed his question at the genin.

"He wouldn't stop throwing up," came the half sheepish half exasperated reply, "all over my favourite jacket mind you and then..." Naruto's words became intelligible at this point.

"Sorry," Kakashi said, "I didn't get that last part."

"The idiot gave him a sedative," Sasuke took vindictive pleasure in watching the blonde turn red with embarrassment.

"And how did that work out?"

"He nearly choked on his vomit," came the mumbled reply.

"Hmmm... guess that wasn't wise was it?" Kakashi said his tone turning grave

"No," Naruto admitted, "it wasn't."

"Still," Kakashi reverted back to his usual nonchalant self, "he seems to be doing okay now and will be no worse for wear after that ordeal. No harm no foul."

"That's it?" Sasuke said.

"You've got something to add Sasuke?"

"For starters," Sasuke said, "the longer we keep him and the others here the more likely it is that someone will begin to miss them... guess I don't have to tell you how that might play out."

"Anything else?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to punch Kakashi on his masked face, "Any idea what we're gonna do next?" he demanded, "because from where I'm standing if we'd followed my plan we could've avoided this whole mess."

"If we followed your plans we'd be back in Konoha trying to explain to the Hokage that the reason we have nothing to show after weeks undercover is because we turned chicken at the first sign of trouble," Naruto retorted.

"Instead now we get to tell her how we turned an ally into an enemy because we didn't know how to cut our losses," Sasuke shot back, "we're definitely better off now."

"Tell me Uchiha, your lack of balls," Naruto said, "is that a family trait or are you the exception?"

Sasuke's arm crackled with electricity as he prepared his signature technique, ''Do you want to repeat that?"

Blue chakra swirled over the genin's palm, "Sure why not," he said, "your lack of balls..."

"That's enough!" Kakashi shouted, "stand down both of you."

Naruto allowed his chakra to dissipate but Sasuke held on debating the merits of putting his fist through his heart.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi barked, "go check on the others."

Sasuke grunted as he put his fist through the table blowing it into pieces, before turning on his heels and exiting the room without another word.

**Well I hope this chapter was everything you expected it to be. Some action, some drama and some setup for plot advancement. I have been contemplating a time skip for a while now and you guys just might see one in a couple of chapters. As usual your thoughts are appreciated and I would like to hear more from you guys. But the review count seems to suggest that I've been discouraging people. **

**So come on help a brother out. Its why we do this after all. **

**Until next time.**


	14. Murphy's Law Part-I

**A/N: Well aren't you guys lucky. Its like Christmas... if Christmas was in February that is. Two chapters within weeks of each other. Haven't done that in a long time but muse is a funny thing. **

**Murphy's Law Part-I**

The prisoner was beginning to stir and groan. It will be another few minutes before he recovered enough to carry a conversation.

A few more minutes of peace... of blessed silence.

There was a time when he had more of those. But he just had to take up the Hokage's proposal. He could have taken a nice relaxing A-ranked mission maybe an S-ranked one, slit the throat of a warlord after going through his guards and catch up on his reading.

But keeping two of his more volatile subordinates from killing each other was turning out to be a full-time job. Sasuke alone was bad enough but with Naruto goading him he was ten times worse. The genin definitely didn't try to make things easier for him.

With the level of their skills and experience it was at times hard to forget that they were barely more than kids. Sasuke never strayed far from the edge, always on the precipice, maybe half a step away from going over and doing an Itachi.

In a life filled with more regrets than triumphs, Uchiha Itachi just might have been his greatest failure. He missed all the signs of what the job was doing to the prodigy, or maybe there were none. It was his responsibility. Everything that Itachi did could be laid at his feet. The boy was good at his job. Maybe a little too good and that right there should have been the first sign. No thirteen year old should be okay with murder and Itachi took to the job like a fish did to water.

Kakashi saw a lot of himself in Itachi and during those days he felt it would be enough to make sure Itachi didn't make his mistakes.

But Itachi was not him and his vanity didn't allow him to see anything more than his own reflection in the boy. For months after the massacre he told himself that he had tried to help. But on introspection he realized that he tried to help Itachi with his own problems and not his.

Eventually the inevitable happened. The job finally pushed him over the edge.

When his little brother who also happened to be the only survivor of the massacre was recommended to the ANBU programme, Kakashi did his best to make sure it didn't happen and when his attempts to do so failed, he took him under his wing.

Kakashi wanted to ensure there weren't any mistakes this time.

He shouldn't have worried. The boy wasn't meant to be ANBU that was obvious from the very beginning. He was unable to remove his emotions from anything he did and his fixation with his brother didn't help his case. Kakashi's relief was palpable. He had never been so glad to have reason to drop a recruit.

The boy deserved some semblance of normality as much as could be granted, something he wouldn't get if he was a part of the volatile life that the ANBU promised.

No, the last Uchiha wouldn't be an ANBU, but with proper guidance he could be an excellent shinobi. The boy was skilled and motivated to be the best he could be, if only to be able to kill his brother.

Kakashi had decided to be the one to provide him that guidance even if he had to leave the ANBU to do it.

And then to his shock, he found that his recommendations had been overlooked and Sasuke had been inducted into ANBU and already sent on his graduation assignment.

Kakashi remembered storming into the Director's office who was admittedly shocked at his outburst. He got no explanation as to why his report was ignored and his best efforts couldn't pry out what Sasuke's assignment was.

And just like that Sasuke Uchiha became another person he failed.

That list just kept getting longer.

"Is that Icha-Icha: Red Winds?"

Kakashi was brought out of his musings to see his prisoner looking surprisingly alert for someone who had come off worse off in a fight, spent the next few minutes puking before spending another hour unconscious.

"You're a fan I presume," Kakashi said, pleased to have found a kindred spirit, even if these were far from ideal circumstances.

"I am," the man groaned as he shifted on his chair, "haven't read that one though. It was limited edition wasn't it? How'd you get it?"

"I had an in with the publisher," Kakashi said, "cost me an arm and leg, this one."

"You paid less than its worth then," he remarked, earning a chuckle from Kakashi.

"I gotta apologize for... " Kakashi gestured towards his face indicating the bruises on the Kusa shinobi's face, "you know."

"Don't worry about it," he said waving Kakashi's apologies away, "I got in a couple of good hits myself."

"So..." Arakida said after a couple of minutes of awkward silence, "what happens now?"

"That..." Kakashi said, "depends on you, but in the interest of cooperation and goodwill would you mind answering a few questions?"

"Shoot."

"Why were you stalking my subordinate?"

"What's your subordinate doing in my home?" he countered.

Kakashi was expecting that, "We can do this all day long," he sighed, "and get nowhere."

"You're the ones spying here," he said, "so why don't you go first?"

"Don't test me Arakida-san," Kakashi warned, "you're my prisoner and so are your subordinates and while I would prefer to do this clean without any complications... but that can change."

The Kusa jounin glared at him before sighing in resignation, "A few weeks ago I captured a Konoha chunin near the border aparently on an escort mission. She's rescued by her Jounin commander before we process her."

"A couple of days later I'm investigating something straight out of a sick horror movie complete with bodies of civilians who from the looks of it were experimented on and a large influx of patients in local hospitals in similar condition."

Kakashi listened intently and the man didn't disappoint as he laid out his story.

"I'm told to drop my investigations, may be someone at the top didn't want something getting out," he gave a wry smile, "you want to get the sick fucks responsible, but you find you've been emasculated by the only rules you swore to ever follow."

"Then I find that the chunin I'd apprehended not long ago in disguise working in a civilian hospital... a civilian hospital which has an exchange programme with Konoha... well, let's just say I got curious."

"You got curious?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you be?"

"I suppose so," Kakashi conceded, "you're a sensor."

Kakashi noticed with satisfaction the reaction of the shinobi being caught off guard, to Arakida's credit though he recovered admirably, "Guess there's no hiding it," he sighed resignedly.

"Only way you could've zeroed in on her as fast as you did," Kakashi said, "she's a little raw when it comes to this undercover thing, but I knew even she couldn't have blown it that quick. I'm guessing you familiarized yourself with her chakra signature when she was your prisoner."

"It seems you've got it all figured out," his captive said in mock appreciation.

"I usually do," of course Kakashi was sure there was a lot more to his ability than that and he had played up his own arrogance without revealing everything he had gleaned about his abilities. If an adversary thought he was overconfident in his abilities that certainly wasn't a bad thing.

"Well," Arakida said, "guess its your turn now."

"Is it?"

"Damn right it is!"

"Why'd you think so?"

"The fact that I'm not dead yet means you have plans," he said, "plans for which you need me alive and for some reason you believe I'll comply... I'll admit I'm curious as to what makes you so confident about my decision."

Kakashi had to admit the man was sharp but he had yet to be involved in an engagement where he didn't come out on top, "You made your decision the moment you decided not to report a spy in your country to your superiors Arakida-san. Not to mention you involved your subordinates as well, jeopardizing their lives in the process."

The glare that was directed his way confirmed what Kakashi needed to know. He had his suspicions that the jounin was running a rogue operation but hadn't been sure until this moment. In that glare he could see the defiance of a man who believed in his cause even when that meant going against his organization.

"And pray what makes you say that I haven't done that?"

"Because, if you had," Kakashi said, "our positions would be reversed."

XxX

Naruto heated the needle to sterilize it. Those shuriken did a number on him. Fortunately they were only flesh wounds for the most part.

"You don't have to do that."

"Hey Sakura-chan!" he said brightly as she took away the needle and sealed the wound on his torso with her glowing palm, "that tickles."

"Did you lose a fight with a porcupine?" she said as she continued working on him.

"Your boyfriend actually... yeow!" he yelped earning a non-commital apology from his healer, "and I'll have you know I won."

"If this is what you look like after a victory." she remarked dryly, "Can't wait to see what defeat does to you," she patted his naked back to signal she was done healing him.

"Defeat would mean death or capture," he said slipping into a t-shirt while doing so, "I doubt you'd want to see that... So, did you debrief Kakashi?"

"No," she shook her head, "he told me that you needed medical attention."

"Nothing I can't handle."

"So it would seem," she muttered under her breath.

"You did a good job," he complimented her, "that information will be priceless in figuring out what Oto is upto."

"You must think I'm a piece of bread," she retorted, "that needs constant buttering."

"I'm sorry?" Naruto said nonplussed.

"Everything I've done so far from going undercover as a medic to talking to a couple of civilians running a charitable organization," she said, "they were well within my skill set and I screwed up the first since a shinobi saw through my cover the second he met me, probably earlier."

"Umm..." Naruto found himself at a complete loss. In his defence he didn't do well when he was at the receiving end of a dressing down from an angry woman.

"I'm not a genin and you're not my jounin sensei," she said finally putting things in perspective, "so stop acting like it."

"I really don't know what you want me to do here," Naruto said honestly.

"I want you," her nostrils flared as if trying hard to control her temper and Naruto began looking around the room to see if there was anything he could place between himself and her, "to give me some professional courtesy."

"You feel I haven't been doing that?"

Sakura glared at him with a raised eyebrow which made him feel stupid for asking that question and he knew he had to work fast to avoid a possible physical retaliation, "How about you just tell me what you need me to do?" he said hurriedly.

Seeing the anger fade away from her eyes Naruto allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. But whatever she had to say would have to wait because they had an extremely unwelcome interruption in the form of Sasuke Uchiha who chose the moment to show up with his ugly mug.

"If you're done chewing out the idiot," he said holding the door partially open, "Kakashi wants that debriefing."

"Fine," she said, "I was done here anyway."

XxX

"... so basically in the last twenty years over five hundred kids would benefit from the programme and go on to make an impact in their fields including but not limited to agriculture, medicine and engineering."

"Fascinating stuff!" Sasuke said sarcastically, "that was a very nice presentation indeed. You definitely have a future in marketing."

"You don't get it do you?" Sakura said directing a withering look at her former crush.

"Enlighten me."

Sakura looked around the room, hoping someone would come to her defence. But Kakashi merely looked indifferent and Naruto's eyes had glazed over.

Now she knew how Iruka-sensei felt. Except she didn't even have the luxury to admonish the students.

She was on her own.

"After Sunshine was founded immediately after the second shinobi war," she said patiently, "it did have a youth development programme, but it was limited to opening new schools or organizing other community projects.

But after the Third war, the programme underwent a radical change."

"How so?" Naruto asked with the air of someone who had been paying attention all along.

She shot him an annoyed glare and he looked appropriately chargined, "The programme became a lot more selective. Instead of funding schools, they began funding students who showed... promise."

"I'm guessing our psychotic doctor was one of the beneficiaries," Kakashi concluded.

"Are you telling me," Sasuke said, "a shinobi village created by one of Konoha's greatest traitors is secretly into philanthropy?"

"Its the perfect cover if you think about it," Naruto said, "no one looks closely at a charity organization doing legitimate work, its likely even the people associated with the organization are unaware of the programme's true purpose."

"It's a long shot," Sasuke said.

"An extremely long one," Kakashi agreed, "but its worth looking into."

"We should get this to Shikamaru," Naruto said, "if anyone can dig something of use out of this mess it'd be him."

"What about Kohaku-san?" Sakura enquired.

"I let him go," Kakashi said, "it wasn't doing much good keeping him here."

"I still think we should've..." Sasuke began.

"Here we go again," Naruto muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear causing Sasuke to direct his scowl in the blonde's direction.

"You've made your concerns clear on more than one occasion Sasuke," Kakashi defused what seemed like to be another brewing conflict, "and believe me I've taken them into account."

"And the the reason he wouldn't be running to his superiors the first chance he gets is?"

"He doesn't trust them," Kakashi said shortly, "Please continue Sakura."

"Even if he doesn't," Sasuke said refusing to be deterred, "what makes you think his subordinates wouldn't?"

Sakura looked at Kakashi uncertainly, not sure if she should continue or wait for him to answer Sasuke.

Kakashi sighed, "Those subordinates of his have worked under him since the war," he said, "if they report this, that would be the same as betraying him. They won't do that."

"And you're sure of that," Sasuke said skeptically.

"Never underestimate the bonds forged in war," Kakashi said solemnly, "Sakura?" he prompted her to continue thereby closing that argument.

"If... if we're right," Sakura stammered struggling to find her rhythm after that brief interruption, "that means that while we may have stumbled upon from where Oto's getting its civilian... " Sakura struggled to come up with a term.

"Posse´?" Naruto offered helpfully.

"Recruits," she decided, "we still don't know how they're chosen."

A pregnant silence followed that statement and everyone in the room exchanged glances.

"Soo..." Naruto said, "Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru," Kakashi agreed.

XxX

Sakura's good mood lasted the five minutes it took to walk from her dorm room to the hospital. The mission was concluded satisfactorily, for the most part and they wouldn't be going back empty-handed.

Even her cover as a civilian medic was productive. It did give her a glimpse of the civilian life she chose to walk away from. It wasn't hard to imagine herself living a relatively normal life, holding a regular job, helping people without the having to deal with the complications that came with life-threatening missions or having teammates that drove her up the wall.

It was... tempting.

She mentally admonished herself for that line of thought. She made her choice a long time despite being pressured to do otherwise and it was too late for regrets.

At least she would be back home soon enough. Just a few more days till her 'internship' ended concluding her first undercover mission.

The first thing she noticed once she entered the hospital was how frantic it was.

"Hey! Watch it!"She barely dodged a nurse pushing through a gurney who directed a quick apology to her as he rushed by.

This happened three more times before she made it to the reception.

"Why does this place look like a warzone?" Sakura asked the nurse on duty.

"We just received an influx of two hundred patients," the harried and disgruntled woman said, "ranging from mild to critical."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Dunno," came the testy reply, "the administration is being very vague about it," she handed Sakura a bunch of files, "and since you've got the time to stand around chatting why don't you go and make yourself useful?"

Sakura scowled as she accepted the files without another word. The nurses took a lot of flak from the doctors and they in turn took it out on the interns who were near the bottom of the totem pole of the hospital hierarchy.

Sakura shook her head as she made her way to her assigned chamber when she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

Apprehension and curiosity led her feet towards the gurney that was being led to the elevator. Sakura entered just as the doors were closing and one look at the patient confirmed her worst fears. She snatched the clipboard at the foot of the gurney and checked the patient's case history.

"How many of these patients have come in with similar symptoms today?" Sakura demanded.

"What?" The nurse asked taken aback by Sakura's behaviour, but she didn't have the time to play nice. A lot was at stake here.

"How many?" she said more forcefully.

"I don't know," he said uncertainly, "dozens... maybe a hundred?"

Sakura cursed under her breath. She had to contact her team.

The only problem was she didn't know how because for some reason best known to Kami they hadn't left any means for her to contact them.

Damn Kakashi!

Damn Sasuke!

Damn Naruto!

"Shit!" she banged her fist on the wall, when she realized that she was scaring the nurse.

"Just take him," Sakura told him awkwardly trying to put him at ease but the way he was vigorously nodding she probably wasn't doing a very good job.

What should she do?

A crazy idea borne of desperation erupted in her head.

She barely waited for the elevator doors to open before rushing out.

XxX

Her cover as a medic forced her to rely on civilian means of transport wasting precious time.

She could barely believe what she was doing. But since her team seemed to be unavailable she was forced to... improvise. Now that she thought about it, that's how Naruto justified most of his craziness.

Before she could change her mind she pushed her way into the Kusagakure mission centre. The first thing she noticed was its similarity to Konoha's own. It was to be expected considering the influence Konoha has... or rather had at one point.

"Can I help you?" the chunin manning the mission desk asked her.

Sakura flashed him what she hoped was a coy smile, "I'm hoping you can, I'm looking for someone."

The chunin threw a bunch of forms her way, "Fill these up," he said, "once they're processed you'll be notified within twenty-four hours with the mission classification and the payment expected."

"This is embarrassing," Sakura said, "I'm actually looking for a shinobi."

"Third floor," the man said.

"He's a Kusa shinobi."

"You'd need to contact the bounty department, fifth floor."

Sakura was on the verge of losing her temper, "I'm looking for jounin Kohaku Arakida," she said struggling to keep her smile.

"And pray what's your business with him?" he enquired.

"It's a personal matter," Sakura said but the man's expression didn't change as if waiting for her to elaborate, "we went out on a date and he never called me."

As soon as she said that she knew she blundered. The man was looking at her like she had grown an extra head and three limbs. He reached for the intercom mike, probably calling security and have her thrown out.

"Jounin Kohaku Arakida," the chunin's voice rang through the building, "please report to the mission desk."

XxX

"What are you doing here?" he demanded as soon as he saw her.

Without a word Sakura grabbed the jounin by the arm and led him out of the building.

He pried his arm out of her grasp, "What the hell is going on?"

"I really don't have time to explain..." Sakura said.

"The last time I was alone with who I assumed was you," he said, "I wound up doped and trussed like a chicken."

Sakura wanted to say that that was exactly the fate he had in mind for her if her team hadn't turned the tables on him. "Look," Sakura said taking a deep breath to calm herself, "this is a matter of life and death."

"All the more reason to explain," the man folded his arms as he stared down at her.

"Fine," Sakura conceded, "but we talk while we walk... what's the fastest way back to the hospital that doesn't require blowing my cover."

Without another word the jounin swept her off her feet carrying her bridal style and took to the roof. Sakura fought her instinct to fight back as she put her arms around his neck trying not to think about what this must look like.

"During our last mission we infiltrated an Oto base which was being used to experiment on civilians to turn them into some sort of anti-shinobi undead force," she said as her helper jumped from roof to roof, " run by a man named Shiba Murusame who went by the alias..."

"The Doctor," the jounin said, "I've heard of him."

"Long story short," Sakura said, "that base was guarded by an army of those things and there were many more he was in the process of turning and we rescued them all and took steps to ensure that they were all were admitted in different medical centres spread across the country so that they couldn't be traced back to that place," Sakura took a moment to catch her breath, "imagine my surprise when today... I saw all of them admitted at the hospital."

"You're telling me that you and your team infiltrated my home, took out a secret base of a shinobi organization that is believed to have collapsed, by taking out an army of anti-ninja zombies and rescued others from the same fate," he said summing it up, "is that right?"

"... Yes."

"Just one question," he said, "why'd you come to me and not your team?"

"My team can't operate in a foreign land without authorization," she said feeling rather pleased with herself having come up with that on the fly, "you don't have the same problem."

He shot her a skeptical look, "You have no idea where they are do you?"

Sakura's felt her face heat up with anger and embarrassment, "Are you going to help me or not?"

"I don't know," he stopped landing on the asphalt and putting Sakura back on her feet much to Sakura's relief, they were just a few yards from the hospital entrance, "this might just be a coincidence and I still don't know what you..."

BOOM!

Sakura felt the explosion before she heard it. The shockwave lifting her off her feet.

This must be what flying feels like, was her last conscious thought just before her body hit the ground.

XxX

Guren watched with satisfaction at the scenes of chaos playing out in front of her. When this ended they would have tied up the one loose end that remained after the fiasco last month. But at least now it would be over.

"Was there really no other way?"

Guren rolled her eyes. Her companion really was a bleeding heart his prowess in battle notwithstanding.

"These were Orochimaru-sama's orders," she said, "are you questioning them?"

"My body, mind and soul are dedicated to the sole purpose of serving Orochimaru-sama," he said darkly, "you'd do well to remember that before you even think about questioning my loyalty."

Guren smirked. She liked getting a rise out of the usually stoic had been slow lately and a girl needed her fun. Her companion was a top-tier enforcer for her master, just like her and if she was being honest having the two of them to oversee the operation was overkill.

A part of her was curious as to which one of them would prevail in a fight over the other. Unfortunately short of a direct order from Orochimaru the only way to goad him into a fight would be insulting Orochimaru.

"It doesn't seem like we'll be needed," she said changing the subject.

"You sound disappointed," he observed.

"And you don't," she countered, "what's even the point of having skills if you don't get to use them?"

"Violence just for the sake of violence has neither meaning nor purpose."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "whatever... I just hope we get some action, its been a while and mama needs her fix."

**Bet you aren't so happy now are you? The Cliffhanger wasn't a part of the plan initially, but a good story needs one every once in a while and this seemed like the perfect place for it. Thanks a lot for the reviews, one of the reasons for this rapid update(hint:hint). The guest reviews raised some points regarding Naruto's genin statu**s **and I'll once again assure you guys that its all a part of the bigger plot and there is a very valid reason for that.**

**Now to build up the next chapter. Expect lots of action and a couple of explosive revelations which I doubt anyone has seen coming. Hope you guys are excited. Anyway pump out those reviews and I'll do the same for the chapter.**

**Until next time.**


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